State v. Golphin8/25/2000
on any such constitutional issue. See Nobles, 350 N.C. at 495, 515 S.E.2d at 893.
We now turn our focus to answering the questions of whether McCray's testimony was inadmissible as it pertained to unrelated misconduct and whether it was irrelevant as it had no bearing on the question of Tilmon's guilt. As to the argument that McCray's testimony was inadmissible because it related to prior misconduct,
vidence of other crimes, wrongs, or acts is not admissible to prove the character of a person in order to show that he acted in conformity therewith. It may, however, be admissible for other purposes, such as proof of motive, opportunity, intent, preparation, plan, knowledge, identity, or absence of mistake, entrapment or accident. N.C.G.S. § 8C-1, Rule 404(b) (1999) (emphasis added).
Rule 404(b), as we have previously held, is
a clear general rule of inclusion of relevant evidence of other crimes, wrongs or acts by a defendant, subject to but one exception requiring its exclusion if its only probative value is to show that the defendant has the propensity or disposition to commit an offense of the nature of the crime charged. Coffey, 326 N.C. at 278-79, 389 S.E.2d at 54.
On the issue of the relevance of McCray's testimony, we have previously stated:
" n a criminal case every circumstance calculated to throw any light upon the supposed crime is admissible and permissible. It is not required that evidence bear directly on the question in issue, and evidence is competent and relevant if it is one of the circumstances surrounding the parties, and necessary to be known, to properly understand their conduct or motives, or if it reasonably allows the jury to draw an inference as to a disputed fact." State v. Jones, 336 N.C. 229, 243, 443 S.E.2d 48, 54 (quoting State v. Arnold, 284 N.C. 41, 47-48, 199 S.E.2d 423, 427 (1973)) (citations omitted in original), cert. denied, 513 U.S. 1003, 130 L. Ed. 2d 423 (1994); see also State v. Brown, 350 N.C. 193, 202, 513 S.E.2d 57, 63 (1999).
In the instant case, McCray's testimony concerning Kevin's luggage is both admissible pursuant to Rule 404(b) and relevant. Pursuant to Rule 404(b), the testimony was admissible to prove Kevin's motive for not wanting to return to Richmond by bus. See N.C.G.S. § 8C-1, Rule 404(b); Coffey, 326 N.C. at 278-79, 389 S.E.2d at 54. The testimony was also relevant as it involved a circumstance surrounding Kevin's trip from Richmond to Greeleyville which then revealed information concerning the motive for his future actions. See Jones, 336 N.C. at 243, 443 S.E.2d at 54. From this evidence, the jury could infer that Kevin did not wish to take the bus back to Richmond because it would stop in Fayetteville where his luggage had been seized by police. See id.
As we previously concluded that the State's evidence of the robbery report was admissible for a proper purpose and we now conclude that Tilmon's evidence of McCray's testimony was admissible and relevant, we hold the trial court did not err. These assignments of error are overruled.
By assignment of error, Kevin argues the trial court violated his state and federal constitutional rights by admitting into evidence a statement made by Tilmon which implicated Kevin. Specifically, Kevin argues admission of the statement violated Bruton, 391 U.S. 123, 20 L. Ed. 2d 476, which held the defendant's Confrontation Clause rights were violated by the admission of a non-testifying co-defendant's confession. We disagree.
This issue arose when the State called Howard Kinlaw as a witness and began to question him about being in an isolation cell beside Tilmon in the Cumberland County jail.
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 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 North Carolina DUI Attorneys
DUI Lawyers
|