State v. Flowers

465 S.E.2d 70, 121 N.C. App. 299, 1996 N.C. App. LEXIS 18
CourtCourt of Appeals of North Carolina
DecidedJanuary 2, 1996
DocketNo. COA94-993
StatusPublished

This text of 465 S.E.2d 70 (State v. Flowers) 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. Flowers, 465 S.E.2d 70, 121 N.C. App. 299, 1996 N.C. App. LEXIS 18 (N.C. Ct. App. 1996).

Opinion

SMITH, Judge.

Defendant appeals her conviction for second degree murder on two grounds. First, defendant argues the trial court erred in its denial of a motion to suppress, based on an alleged wrongful police interrogation. Second, defendant assigns error to the trial court’s decision to limit the scope of testimony by defendant’s expert witness. We find no error, and affirm defendant’s conviction.

[301]*301Evidence presented at the suppression hearing tended to show the following facts. On 21 February 1991, police officers responded to a phone call reporting a shooting at the home of defendant and her husband, Forrest Flowers. Upon arrival at defendant’s residence, Cleveland County Detective Jerry L. White observed defendant standing in the yard. Detective White entered the house and observed Forrest Flowers dead on the floor. Detective White also observed a hole in decedent’s chest, and a shotgun in the bedroom of the house. Detective White surmised the hole must have come from a large caliber weapon or shotgun blast.

Detective White then returned to the yard and spoke with defendant. Defendant told Detective White that she had been loading a shotgun across the room from decedent when an accidental discharge occurred. This discharge struck decedent, killing him. Defendant’s demeanor at the time of this investigatory inquiry is a matter of dispute. Detective White described defendant’s emotional state as “upset,” or “somewhat upset,” but not “hysterical or in tears.” Other witnesses at the scene of the shooting observed the defendant as upset, but rational.

Defendant was then transported to the Cleveland County Law Enforcement Center by Detective White. Once at the station, defendant was apprised of her Miranda rights. As defendant was read these rights, Detective White repeatedly paused and asked whether she understood those rights. Defendant responded by stating she understood her rights. Defendant then waived those rights and signed a written waiver. The waiver included the following statement:

I understand what my rights are. I am willing to make a statement and answer questions. I do not want a lawyer at this time. I understand and know what I am doing. No promise or threats have been made to me ....

The waiver was signed by defendant at 7:38 P.M. on 21 February 1991, and was witnessed by Detective Brian Hawkins.

After the waiver was signed and acknowledged, Detective White began questioning defendant. Shortly thereafter, Detective Raymond Hamrick arrived. With Detective Hamrick present, Detective White resumed the questioning of defendant. Detective White questioned the veracity of defendant’s version of events surrounding the shooting. Specifically, Detective White found defendant’s accidental discharge story inconsistent with the nature of the shotgun wound [302]*302inflicted upon the decedent. Given the relatively small size of the entry wound, Detective White concluded the shotgun’s discharge must have come from close range, not across the room as defendant claimed at the shooting scene.

Defendant was asked by Detective White to explain this apparent anomaly, stating it “could not have happened the way you told me that it happened.” In response to Detective White’s question, and in the presence of Detective Hamrick, defendant retorted, “Well, okay, I shot him.” At this point, Detective White asked defendant if she would recapitulate her admission while being tape-recorded. Defendant agreed.

Defendant then repeated her story to Detective White while being tape-recorded. The tape recording took place at 8:30 p.m., 21 February 1991, and was witnessed by Detective Hamrick. In the transcript of the tape, the defendant affirms she was “advised of [her] constitutional rights” prior to making the recorded statement.

Defendant’s recorded statement elaborated upon her earlier admission of culpability. In her recorded statement, defendant admits shooting the decedent because she “had had all she could take.” Further, defendant explains how she selected a red shell, loaded the shell into the breech of the shotgun, and shot decedent from a distance of approximately two feet, while he was asleep on the couch. Defendant described the shooting as “a way out,” apparently meaning a way out of the marriage.

The next morning, 22 February 1991, at 10:02 A.M., defendant read and signed a transcript of her recorded statement, affirming the transcript to be her “entire statement.”

At trial, the defense theory was premised upon defendant’s purported inability to form the capacity necessary to knowingly and voluntarily waive her constitutional rights prior to interrogation. The evidence offered by defendant to support a defense based on incapacity centered on expert psychiatric testimony. The ostensible reason for the psychiatric testimony was to show that defendant “was impaired by an allergic reaction to prescription narcotics and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) so as to render any responses to police interrogation unknowing and involuntary.” The State objected to the use of psychiatric testimony as substantive evidence of defendant’s lack of capacity, and the trial court sustained the objection. In ruling on [303]*303the objection, the trial court allowed defendant’s use of psychiatric testimony only for the limited purpose of corroboration.

We note preemptively that defendant has not set out all of her assignments of error in her brief on appeal. As such, those assignments of error are deemed abandoned. State v. Ledford, 41 N.C. App. 213, 218, 254 S.E.2d 780, 782 (197.9); N.C.R. App. P. 28(b)(5) (1995). Defendant’s remaining assignments of error address the trial court’s failure to suppress defendant’s inculpatory statements, and the trial court’s limitations on defendant’s expert psychiatric testimony.

Defendant maintains the trial court improperly allowed admission of her inculpatory statements, in derogation of the rules set forth in Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966). The purpose of the Miranda holding is to ensure “the use of procedural safeguards effective to secure the [constitutional] privilege against self-incrimination.” Id. at 443, 16 L.Ed.2d at 706. Accordingly, defendant attempted to suppress her inculpatory statements, but that motion was denied by the trial court.

Defendant’s Miranda-based theory is twofold. Defendant argues “she was impaired by an allergic reaction to prescription narcotics and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) so as to render any responses to police interrogation unknowing and involuntary.” Otherwise stated, defendant asserts she lacked capacity to waive her Miranda protections. Next, defendant argues Miranda warnings should have been given at each stage of the interrogation process, not just at the initial period of questioning. Because repeated warnings were not given, defendant asserts the original Miranda warnings became stale at the point the tape-recorded statement was made.

Appellate courts reviewing the voluntariness of a confession must apply a totality of the circumstances test. State v. Smith, 328 N.C. 99, 114, 400 S.E.2d 712, 720 (1991).

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Related

Miranda v. Arizona
384 U.S. 436 (Supreme Court, 1966)
State v. Smith
400 S.E.2d 712 (Supreme Court of North Carolina, 1991)
State v. McZorn
219 S.E.2d 201 (Supreme Court of North Carolina, 1975)
State v. Baker
320 S.E.2d 670 (Supreme Court of North Carolina, 1984)
State v. Corley
311 S.E.2d 540 (Supreme Court of North Carolina, 1984)
State v. Daniels
446 S.E.2d 298 (Supreme Court of North Carolina, 1994)
State v. Richardson
342 S.E.2d 823 (Supreme Court of North Carolina, 1986)
State v. Ledford
254 S.E.2d 780 (Court of Appeals of North Carolina, 1979)

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Bluebook (online)
465 S.E.2d 70, 121 N.C. App. 299, 1996 N.C. App. LEXIS 18, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-flowers-ncctapp-1996.