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State v. Duarte11/15/2005
An unpublished opinion of the North Carolina Court of Appeals does not constitute controlling legal authority. Citation is disfavored, but may be permitted in accordance with the provisions of Rule 30(e)(3) of the North Carolina Rules of Appellate Procedure.
Defendant was indicted by a grand jury on the charge of first degree murder in the death of Teresa Williams ("Williams"). Defendant was convicted by a jury of second degree murder in Williams' death on 10 March 2004. The trial judge sentenced defendant in the aggravated range, after finding both aggravating and mitigating factors, to a term of 237 to 294 months. Defendant timely appealed the verdict and sentence.
At trial the State's evidence tended to show that about 1:22 a.m. on 23 April 2003, police officers were dispatched to the boarding house where defendant and Williams shared a room. Upon arrival, the officers found Williams lying in bed with a stab wound, covered with a band-aid, to her left breast. There was an opened, lock-blade knife beside her head. Williams was semi-conscious, unable to relate to the officers what had happened, and mumbled that she "was hurting and wanted to sleep." Defendant was standing in the room looking at Williams when the officers arrived. Williams was pronounced dead at 2:40 a.m. on 23 April 2003 after arriving at the hospital. Williams' autopsy found that she had a blood alcohol concentration of .290 and a cocaine concentration of .012 milligrams per liter.
Officers obtained a search warrant for defendant and Williams' room, based in part on the statements of Stephen Duncan ("Duncan") who was William's cousin and who rented a room on the same floor of the boarding house as Williams and defendant. Duncan registered a blood alcohol level of .20 on an Alcosensor some time after giving his account of the events leading up to Williams' death. The officer taking the statement, Detective Adams, testified that, although Duncan smelled of alcohol and appeared intoxicated, he appeared to be coherent and provided facts regarding the incident that also were coherent. In addition, Detective Adams testified that he based his application for the search warrant on the facts that: a person with a stab wound, who later died, had been found at the location; he suspected that the death was not the result of a suicide; and he wanted to search the location for sharp objects among other things as part of his investigation.
As a result of the search conducted pursuant to the search warrant the following items were recovered: a bloody t-shirt, the lock-blade knife, a kitchen knife with an eight inch blade found under the corner of a microwave, blood stained carpeting, four beerbottles, and a bloody towel. The towel was not included in the inventory of items seized, however. Officers also collected the pants that defendant was wearing when he was arrested.
Defendant made a pre-trial motion to suppress evidence regarding a prior alleged assault on Williams by defendant. The motion was denied. The State subsequently presented evidence showing that, four days prior to Williams' death, police had been called to the boarding house in reference to a domestic disturbance. The officers were let into the building by the landlord, whom they had to awaken. Officers found Williams bleeding from the nose and mouth. When asked about her injuries, Williams told the officers that the landlord had hit her. Because they had just had to awaken the landlord, the officers did not believe Williams and went upstairs to continue their investigation. They found defendant in the room he shared with Williams. There were drops of blood on the floor of the room and on defendant's pants. Defendant was arres
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