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State v. Davis12/21/2000
ery store. He made the school football team and stopped working in September when football season began. Teammates described defendant as a leader and a hard worker. In December of 1995, defendant began working as a bag boy at a Bi-Lo grocery store where he was described as a good worker. Defendant's high school principal described him as a normal and well-behaved student. Defendant was "on track" to graduate from high school, was accepted into North Carolina A&T;State University, and had passed an Air Force entrance test.
There was constant rivalry between defendant and Caroline to the extent that Caroline packed up defendant's belongings on more than one occasion. There was also tension between defendant and his aunt. On one occasion, Miller pointed a pistol at defendant and said that when she gave him an order, "she expected it to be done." Witnesses described defendant as remorseful and noted that he cried whenever he discussed the murders.
A clinical psychologist, Dr. Jerry Noble, testified as an expert witness. Dr. Noble performed a post-arrest evaluation and determined that defendant's basic psychological, emotional, and nurturing needs had been neglected. Defendant had an IQ of only 78, but he never repeated a grade or had any special-education classes. According to Dr. Noble, defendant had four significant mental disorders on 24 May 1996: (1) borderline intellectual functioning, (2) borderline personality disorder, (3) cannabis abuse, and (4) acute stress disorder. The borderline personality disorder caused defendant to be emotionally unstable and impulsive and to have difficulties in interpersonal relationships. Dr. Noble described defendant as anxious, depressed, immature, and prone to unravel during periods of stress. Defendant's conduct in eating a sandwich and watching television after he killed Caroline was consistent with acute stress disorder, disassociation, and derealization. According to Dr. Noble, defendant could not fully remember, did not understand, and was genuinely bewildered about Miller's death. Following the homicides, defendant exhibited suicidal thoughts, increased interest in religion, and signs of remorse. Dr. Noble opined that defendant was under the influence of a mental or emotional disturbance at the time of the murders and that his capacity to appreciate the criminality of his conduct or to conform his conduct to the requirements of the law was impaired.
Defendant appeals to this Court as of right from the judgment imposing a sentence of death for the first-degree murder of Miller. Additionally, this Court allowed defendant's motion to bypass the Court of Appeals as to his appeal of the judgment imposing a life sentence without parole for the first-degree murder of Caroline.
I. CAPITAL SENTENCING PROCEEDING
In his first argument, defendant contends that the trial court violated state and federal constitutional law during sentencing deliberations by responding improperly to: (1) the jury's question about the result of an inability to agree, and (2) a juror's letter indicating an inability to continue as a member of the jury. We cannot agree.
During deliberations, the jury sent a note to the court as follows: "Could we be furnished the last two paragraphs of Judge Payne's charge to the jury! re: Our final decision[?] On Issue (4) four[,] if we are 11 to one for death what happens[?]" Upon receiving the note, the court informed counsel that it had received a note from the jury and that the jury had a question "asking for `what happens if there's a division on the fourth issue.'" Counsel for defendant asked the court to instruct the jury about what happens if the jury is unable to agree. The court denied
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 North Carolina DUI Attorneys
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