State v. Barr

721 S.E.2d 395, 218 N.C. App. 329, 2012 N.C. App. LEXIS 219
CourtCourt of Appeals of North Carolina
DecidedFebruary 7, 2012
DocketNo. COA11-619
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 721 S.E.2d 395 (State v. Barr) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of North Carolina primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Barr, 721 S.E.2d 395, 218 N.C. App. 329, 2012 N.C. App. LEXIS 219 (N.C. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

THIGPEN, Judge.

Betty Barr (“Defendant”) was charged and convicted of illegally accessing and aiding and abetting in the access of a government computer in violation of N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-454.1(a)(2) and (b). On appeal, we must determine whether the trial court erred in denying Defendant’s motion to dismiss, whether an indictment was fatally defective, and whether the trial court erred in its instructions to the jury. We conclude there was no prejudicial error in the judgments [331]*331convicting Defendant in Case Nos. 10 CRS 1557, 10 CRS 1558, and 10 CRS 1559. However, the portion of the judgment convicting Defendant in Case No. 10 CRS 1560 for a violation of N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-454.1(b) must be arrested.

I: Factual and Procedural History

The evidence of record tends to show the following: Defendant was the owner and operator of Lexington License Plate Agency No. 29 (“Lexington Agency”). When a car dealer completes a vehicle sale, he must transfer title of the vehicle to the new owner, which entails delivering relevant paperwork, such as the bill of sale and application for new title, to a license plate agency such as the Lexington Agency. Defendant underwent training at the North Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles (“DMV”) in order to operate the Lexington Agency, and Defendant applied for and was granted a contract from DMV as the operator of the Lexington Agency. Defendant was also a licensed RAC-F Title Clerk (“title clerk”). When a car dealer requests that a license plate agency transfer title of a vehicle, a title clerk checks the paperwork for accuracy and accesses a computer system called State Title and Registration System (“STARS”) by entering the title clerk’s unique number called an RACF number, which is issued to the title clerk by DMV; the title clerk also enters a private entry code number that the title clerk creates as her password. STARS allows the title clerk to process the transfer of title, but only after the title clerk enters the relevant information for the transfer into STARS, including the car dealer’s identification number. All North Carolina vehicles are titled and registered through STARS.

Defendant worked with four other title clerks at the Lexington Agency, Bettina Granados (“Granados”), Arlene Cornatzer (“Cornatzer”), Mary Byerly (“Byerly”), and Miranda Stokes (“Stokes”). On average, the Lexington Agency handled 700 to 800 vehicle title transfers and 200 to 300 telephone calls per day.

The Lexington Agency had a policy for occasions when title transfer issues or questions arose. First, the title clerk would consult the DMV manual. If the title clerk did not find the answer in the DMV manual, the title clerk would next ask other title clerks for guidance. If other title clerks had not encountered that particular issue before, the title clerk would then call a DMV help desk in Raleigh, North Carolina. The help desk, staffed with DMV personnel, would provide an answer and instruct title clerks on the proper resolution to the issue.

[332]*332Randall K. Lanier (“Lanier”) was a car dealer who owned Lanier Motor Company. For more than thirty-five years, Lanier had bought salvaged vehicles, repaired them, and sold them at Lanier Motor Company. In 2007, due to “tremendous financial losses” affecting Lanier’s credit, Lanier’s bonding company refused to renew the company’s bonds for 2008-2009. On 12 August 2008, Lanier’s license, Lie. #7736, was terminated. Lanier, however, continued to sell vehicles without a license.

It is undisputed that the Lexington Agency transferred title for sixteen of Lanier Motor Company’s vehicle sales while Lanier Motor Company was unlicensed. However, there is conflicting evidence regarding the details of the transfers.

According to several title clerks and Defendant, the following transpired: On 25 September 2008, Lanier went to the Lexington Agency to transfer title for two recent vehicle sales. Defendant was not present. Lanier gave the relevant paperwork to the title clerk, Stokes. Stokes entered Lanier’s dealer identification number into STARS, and the computer responded, “invalid dealer number.” Stokes asked Granados how to resolve the issue. Granados typed “OS” for the dealer number and told Stokes to continue. “OS” was an abbreviation for out-of-state. When Stokes asked Granados why she had entered “OS[,]” Granados explained that Lanier “was in the process of combining two lots or moving a lot to make his dealer number present. It was in the stage of being perfected by Raleigh, and that’s what we were told to do.” Stokes understood that Granados had called the DMV help desk to confirm that entering “OS” was the proper procedure for Lanier Motor Company. Entering “OS” for Lanier’s transfers of title became the recognized procedure for the office. Several days after 25 September 2008, Lanier again came to the Lexington Agency to transfer title for another vehicle. Defendant entered Lanier’s dealer number into STARS, and the system indicated Lanier was an inactive dealer, which means the car dealer has not renewed his dealer license. Granados again told Defendant, “I called [the help desk] and they told me that you could enter those . . . because he’s just in the process of getting his bonds together.” Granados explained that Defendant should enter “OS[.]”

However, according to Granados, she never called the DMV help desk, and, in fact, Defendant had instructed her to enter “OS” for Lanier Motor Company’s transfers.

Defendant was directly involved in only three transfers. In total, Defendant earned $59 in fees for the sixteen title transfers.

[333]*333On 5 April 2010, Defendant was indicted on three counts of accessing a government computer and two counts of aiding and abetting accessing a government computer pursuant to N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-454.1(a) and (b). The indictments charging violations of N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-454.1(a) were based on title transfers personally made by Defendant on 30 September 2008, 23 October 2008, and 3 November 2008. The indictment charging violations of N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-454.1(a) and (b) was based on a title transfer by Mary Byerly on 30 January 2009, which Defendant allegedly aided and abetted. The matter came on for trial at the 13 December 2010 session of Davidson County Superior Court. Defendant moved to dismiss the charges at the close of the State’s evidence and renewed the motion at the close of all evidence. The jury entered verdicts finding Defendant guilty of three counts of unlawfully accessing a government computer for a fraudulent purpose, and two counts of aiding and abetting the unlawful access of a government computer. The trial court entered a consolidated judgment sentencing Defendant to thirteen to sixteen months incarceration; however, the trial court suspended the sentence and placed Defendant on supervised probation for eighteen months. Defendant was also fined $59.20. From these judgments, Defendant appeals.

II: Motion to Dismiss

[1 ] Defendant first argues the trial court erred by denying her motion to dismiss because there was no substantial evidence that (1) she accessed a government computer to obtain services by fraud; (2) or that she acted willfully. We disagree and address each argument in turn.

When reviewing a challenge to the denial of a defendant’s motion to dismiss a charge on the basis of insufficiency of the evidence, this Court determines “whether the State presented substantial evidence in support of each element of the charged offense.” State v. Chapman, 359 N.C.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
721 S.E.2d 395, 218 N.C. App. 329, 2012 N.C. App. LEXIS 219, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-barr-ncctapp-2012.