State v. Cozart

817 S.E.2d 599, 260 N.C. App. 96
CourtCourt of Appeals of North Carolina
DecidedJune 19, 2018
DocketCOA 17-535
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 817 S.E.2d 599 (State v. Cozart) 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. Cozart, 817 S.E.2d 599, 260 N.C. App. 96 (N.C. Ct. App. 2018).

Opinions

BERGER, Judge.

*97On September 8, 2016, a Wake County jury found Brandon Marquis Cozart ("Defendant") guilty of three counts of statutory rape and two counts of indecent liberties with a child. Defendant appeals, contending the trial court failed to conduct a Grady hearing prior to imposing lifetime satellite-based monitoring ("SBM"), failed to substitute court appointed counsel upon his request, and he received ineffective assistance of counsel ("IAC"). We hold that Defendant failed to properly appeal the imposition of SBM. Further, we deny his petition for writ of certiorari, find no error regarding the trial court's inquiry concerning discharge of counsel, and dismiss his IAC claim without prejudice.

Factual and Procedural Background

In 2014, Defendant, along with his fiancée and infant son, moved into the home of his friend, Montrail Alexander ("Alexander"). Fourteen year old Mary1 lived across the street with her mother, siblings, and grandparents. Mary would frequently visit Alexander's house for sleepovers and family events because Mary's mother was close friends with Alexander. Mary regarded Alexander as a "big brother," and had been visiting him for seven or eight years.

Mary met Defendant at Alexander's house for the first time in February 2014. Mary and her siblings would visit Alexander's house three to four times a week, and sleep over every other weekend. Defendant made remarks to Mary and her younger sister about their appearance that made them uncomfortable, and, as a result, their visits to Alexander's house became less frequent.

Mary testified that in March or mid-April of 2014, she decided to spend the night at Alexander's house with her two younger sisters and two step-brothers, despite feeling uneasy. That night, Alexander's *98family slept in their own bedroom, Defendant slept in his bedroom with his family, and the children all slept in the living room, with Mary on the couch. Mary heard Defendant go to the bathroom, *601and when he came out, he approached her, put his hand over her mouth, and told her to be quiet. Defendant forcibly undressed Mary and made her have unprotected vaginal intercourse with him. Mary testified there was blood in her underwear and she did not know what to do because she was scared. Mary returned to her home the next morning and did not tell anyone what happened.

A few weeks later, Mary went over to Alexander's house again to see his newborn baby. Defendant was the only adult in the house. After she entered, Defendant forced Mary against the living room couch while she said "no" repeatedly. Defendant then made Mary go into the hallway where he forcibly removed her pants and underwear and engaged in sexual intercourse with her. Defendant stopped after Mary told him her stomach was hurting. When Alexander's girlfriend came home, Mary left. After this incident, Mary was bleeding heavily and had semen in her vagina. Mary did not tell her mother about the specific encounters because she was afraid her family would not believe her.

Defendant moved out of Alexander's house in June 2014, and Mary had no further sexual encounters with him. In late June, Mary found out that she was pregnant after taking two pregnancy tests, and messaged Defendant on Facebook regarding the pregnancy.

After reporting the incident to law enforcement, the Garner Police Department started an investigation. Investigators obtained DNA samples from Mary, Defendant, and Mary's child who was born in January 2015. DNA analysis showed there was a 99.9999 percent probability that Defendant was the father of Mary's child. On September 30, 2014, the Garner Police Department arrested Defendant for two counts of felony statutory rape of a person thirteen, fourteen, or fifteen years old.

On September 25, 2014, prior to Defendant's arrest, Chelsea, a fifteen-year-old runaway, met Defendant on the street at Moore Square in downtown Raleigh. Defendant approached Chelsea and initiated a conversation. Defendant told her about his son's birthday party at a local hotel. Chelsea went with Defendant to the hotel, thinking that it would be a birthday party. Defendant initiated a sexual encounter with Chelsea. Chelsea testified that she did not want Defendant to have sex with her, but eventually acquiesced. Defendant had sexual intercourse with Chelsea twice at his insistence in the hotel room.

*99After the encounter, Chelsea left the hotel and did not talk about the incident until she spoke with Detective William Tripp with the Raleigh Police Department on September 26, 2014. Chelsea underwent a child medical exam at SAFEchild Advocacy Center in Raleigh based on a recommendation by Detective Tripp. Chelsea again identified Defendant as the man who had sexual intercourse with her in an interview at the center.

On September 30, 2014, Defendant was arrested for three counts of felony statutory rape of a person thirteen, fourteen, or fifteen years old, and two counts of indecent liberties with a child. On October 27 and 28, 2014, a Wake County Grand Jury indicted Defendant for five counts of statutory rape of a person thirteen, fourteen, or fifteen years old and three counts of taking indecent liberties with a child. The offenses were joined for trial.

At the close of the State's evidence at trial, one count of statutory rape was dismissed by the trial court for lack of evidence. The jury found Defendant guilty of three counts of statutory rape of a person thirteen, fourteen, or fifteen years old, and two counts of taking indecent liberties with a child. Defendant was sentenced to two consecutive active sentences of 300 to 420 months imprisonment. Upon his release, Defendant was ordered to register as a sex offender for life and enroll in lifetime SBM. Defendant gave oral notice of appeal.

Analysis

I. Satellite-Based Monitoring

Defendant concedes that the oral notice of appeal was insufficient to confer jurisdiction to this Court to consider his SBM claim. On July 28, 2017, Defendant filed a petition for writ of certiorari pursuant to Rule 21 of the North Carolina Rules of Appellate Procedure regarding the imposition of SBM upon his release for the remainder of *602his natural life. See N.C.R. App. P. 21(c). Defendant requests that this Court grant a petition for writ of certiorari to hear his appeal on this issue, and then suspend the Appellate Rules under Rule 2 to reach the merits of his unpreserved constitutional argument. We deny Defendant's requests.

"Our Court has held that SBM hearings and proceedings are not criminal actions, but are instead a civil regulatory scheme." State v. Brooks , 204 N.C. App. 193, 194, 693 S.E.2d 204, 206 (2010) (citation, internal quotation marks, and brackets omitted).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
817 S.E.2d 599, 260 N.C. App. 96, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-cozart-ncctapp-2018.