State v. Greenlee

741 S.E.2d 498, 227 N.C. App. 133, 2013 WL 1879588, 2013 N.C. App. LEXIS 462
CourtCourt of Appeals of North Carolina
DecidedMay 7, 2013
DocketNo. COA12-419
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 741 S.E.2d 498 (State v. Greenlee) 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. Greenlee, 741 S.E.2d 498, 227 N.C. App. 133, 2013 WL 1879588, 2013 N.C. App. LEXIS 462 (N.C. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

STEELMAN, Judge.

Considering the evidence presented by the State in the light most favorable to the State, there was sufficient evidence that the items sold by defendant to a pawn shop were stolen. The trial court did not err in denying defendant’s motion to dismiss these two charges of obtaining property by false pretense. Where the State failed to present evidence of defendant’s actual or constructive presence at the time Summers sold or pawned items, the trial court erred in denying defendant’s motion to dismiss the other two charges of obtaining property by false pretense, which were based upon the theory of acting in concert.

I. Factual and Procedural Background

On or about 4 November 2010, Richard Perkins noticed that the Global Positioning System (GPS) was missing from his motor vehicle. Mr. Perkins reported the theft to police, advising that the GPS was a TomTom, model number XL 335-s 4.3, with serial number RU3539A01739. On the morning of 4 November 2010, Matthew Shanor discovered that his GPS and digital camera were missing from his work truck. Mr. Shanor reported to police that the stolen GPS was a Magellan Roadmate 1424 with serial number 0789001642302. On 12 November 2010, Samantha Brackett discovered that a GPS and iPod Touch were missing from her motor vehicle. Ms. Brackett reported to police that the missing GPS was a Garmin NUVI 1300 with serial number INVG37535, and the iPod Touch had serial number 9C82913R14N. On or about 31 October 2010, Marcellus Fariss and Christopher O’Neil returned home to discover that there had been a break-in at their residence. They reported many items missing, including two watches, one of which was a men’s Seiko sports [135]*135watch, and a Tascam eight-track digital recorder, model DP-008, with serial number DO, or DO, 1092520A. On 27 November 2010, Officer Meg Donahue completed two incident reports, one in response to a larceny from a motor vehicle belonging to David Carlos Bruner, and another in response to a theft reported by Craig Chenevert. Mr. Bruner reported that his Apple iPod, with serial number JQ531643S47, had been stolen, and Mr. Chenevert reported that his GPS, a Garmin NUVI 260 with serial number 17T486845, had been stolen. None of the victims to these thefts saw the person who stole the items.

Following these thefts, multiple items were sold or pawned by either defendant or Farron Lene Summers (Summers), at a pawn shop in Asheville. On 8 November 2010, defendant sold a TomTom GPS, model number N14644, with serial number RU3539A01739. On 26 November, defendant sold a Seiko watch and pawned a Tascam Pocket DP-008 studio recorder with serial number 0050869. On 15 November 2010, Summers sold a Magellan Roadmate GPS, model number 1424, with serial number 0789001642302, and an iPod Touch with serial number 9C82913R14N. On 28 November 2010, Summers sold a Garmin NUVI 260 GPS with serial number 17T486845, and an iPod 4 GB Classic with serial number JQ531G43S47. The documents submitted by defendant and Summers for each of these items stated: “The pledgor of the item(s) attests that it is not stolen, has no liens or encumbrances, and is the pledger’s to sell or pawn.” Both the defendant and Summers signed the documents for the items they sold or pawned.

Police investigators identified defendant and Summers as suspects in the thefts after matching some of the items reported stolen to those sold at the pawn shop. On 30 November 2010, Detective Matt Davis located defendant and Summers at the home of Summers’ mother. Detective Davis spoke with defendant, who told him “that he was a drug dealer, that he sold crack cocaine in Pisgah View Apartments, and that several individuals . . . had the habit of trading items to him for crack.” According to Detective Davis, defendant stated that “he didn’t care whether [the items people would bring to him] were stolen or not, but he would take it if he thought he could make a profit off of it. ” Defendant also stated that he had asked Summers to sell items for him.

Summers’ mother consented to a search of her home. She told the investigators that she “found some bags that were stuffed under a bed in the room where [defendant] was sleeping.” The bags contained items similar to those previously sold, (power cords, iPod cords etc.), as well as a Garmin NUVI 1300 GPS with serial number 1NVG37535, and a Sony Walkman digital recorder.

[136]*136Defendant was indicted on four counts of obtaining property by false pretense, two counts of conspiring to obtain property by false pretense, and one count of being an habitual felon. At the close of the State’s evidence, the trial court granted defendant’s motion to dismiss the two conspiracy counts. The jury found defendant guilty of the remaining four charges of obtaining property by false pretense. Defendant pled guilty to being an habitual felon. The trial court consolidated all of the convictions for judgment, found defendant to be a Level V offender for purposes of felony sentencing, and imposed an active sentence of 127-162 months.

Defendant appeals.

II. Standard of Review

This Court reviews an appeal of a motion to dismiss de novo. State v. Smith, 186 N.C. App. 57, 62, 650 S.E.2d 29, 33 (2007). When ruling on a motion to dismiss, “the trial court must consider all evidence admitted, whether competent or incompetent, in the light most favorable to the State, giving the State the benefit of every reasonable inference and resolving any contradictions in its favor.” State v. Rose, 339 N.C. 172, 192, 451 S.E.2d 211, 223 (1994), cert. denied, 515 U.S. 1135, 132 L. Ed. 2d 818 (1995).

A motion to dismiss should be denied if “there is substantial evidence (1) of each essential element of the offense charged, or of a lesser offense included therein, and (2) of defendant’s being the perpetrator of such offense.” State v. Fritsch, 351 N.C. 373, 378, 526 S.E.2d 451, 455 (quoting State v. Barnes, 334 N.C. 67, 75, 430 S.E.2d 914, 918 (1993)), cert. denied, 531 U.S. 890, 148 L. Ed. 2d 150 (2000). “Substantial evidence is such relevant evidence as a reasonable mind might accept as adequate to support a conclusion.” State v. Smith, 300 N.C. 71, 78-79, 265 S.E.2d 164, 169 (1980).

Circumstantial evidence may be sufficient to support a conviction “even when the evidence does not rule out every hypothesis of innocence.” Fritsch, 351 N.C. at 379, 526 S.E.2d at 455 (citations and quotations omitted).

If the evidence presented is circumstantial, the court must consider whether a reasonable inference of defendant’s guilt may be drawn from the circumstances. Once the court decides that a reasonable inference of defendant’s guilt may be drawn from the circumstances, then it is for the jury to decide whether the facts, taken singly or in [137]*137combination, satisfy [it] beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant is actually guilty.

Id. (citations and quotations omitted).

III. Analysis

A.

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Related

State v. Bradsher
Court of Appeals of North Carolina, 2020
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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
741 S.E.2d 498, 227 N.C. App. 133, 2013 WL 1879588, 2013 N.C. App. LEXIS 462, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-greenlee-ncctapp-2013.