State v. Lovette

737 S.E.2d 432, 225 N.C. App. 456, 2013 N.C. App. LEXIS 132
CourtCourt of Appeals of North Carolina
DecidedFebruary 5, 2013
DocketNo. COA12-794
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 737 S.E.2d 432 (State v. Lovette) 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. Lovette, 737 S.E.2d 432, 225 N.C. App. 456, 2013 N.C. App. LEXIS 132 (N.C. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

STEPHENS, Judge.

Procedural History and Evidence

This appeal arises from Defendant’s conviction of participating in the March 2008 kidnapping, robbery, and murder of Eve Marie Carson, then president of the student body at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (“UNC”). The evidence at trial tended to show [458]*458the following: On 5 March 2008, Carson lived in a house at 202 Friendly Lane in Chapel Hill with three fellow UNC students. One of her roommates saw Carson when he stopped by their house about 1:30 that morning. At that time, Carson was sitting in the living room working on a class paper. No one else was in the house. Carson’s car, a Toyota Highíander SUV, was parked in the driveway. When the roommate returned to the house around 4:30 a.m., Carson, her laptop computer, and her car were gone.

About 5:00 a.m., officers from the Chapel Hill Police Department (“CHPD”) responded to a 911 call about gunshots and a young woman yelling in the area of Hillcrest Drive. The officers discovered a woman’s body lying in the road in the area of Hillcrest Drive and Hillcrest Circle. The woman, later identified as Carson, was dead, having suffered multiple gunshot wounds. Four .25 caliber shell casings were found near the body.

On 6 March 2008, officers investigating the murder released a still image of a suspect from bank video surveillance footage from an ATM where Carson’s card had been used on the morning of and the day following her death. The image, which was shown on local television newscasts, showed an African-American male in an SUV with two passengers.

On 12 March 2008, Shanita Love of Durham contacted law enforcement officers with information about the Carson case, which led to the arrest of Defendant. Defendant was subsequently indicted on charges of first-degree murder, first-degree kidnapping, felonious larceny, felonious possession of stolen goods, and robbery with a dangerous weapon.

The case came on for trial at the 28 November 2011 criminal session of superior court in Orange County. At trial, Love testified on behalf of the State. Love testified that she and her children lived in an apartment in Durham with Demario Atwater and his mother, sister, and three brothers. Defendant was a friend of Atwater’s siblings and often stopped by the apartment. On 4 March 2008, Atwater left the apartment after 10:00 p.m. and returned about 5:30 the next morning. Later, when Atwater saw the still image from the bank surveillance footage on television, he called Defendant into the room and told him that his picture was on the news. Defendant replied, “Oh, s — t,” asked to use the phone, and left. On 8 March 2008, Love accompanied Atwater, his brother, and Defendant as they disposed of pieces of a .25 caliber handgun. On the same day, Atwater and Defendant broke [459]*459up a sawed-off shotgun on some bricks and put the pieces into grocery bags, which Atwater disposed of.

Defendant’s acquaintance Jayson McNeil testified that Defendant called him on 4 March 2008 and asked McNeil to drive Defendant and Atwater to Chapel Hill. McNeil was busy and not able to provide the ride. Defendant called McNeil again on 12 March 2008 and asked McNeil to come and pick him up. Defendant told McNeil that he was anxious to get out of the area because Atwater was “going to' tell.” When McNeil testified that, when he asked Defendant what he meant, Defendant

explained to me on the night that he called my cell phone — explained to me letting me know that the night they needed a ride to Chapel Hill was the reason. And he also explained to me that when they got — him and [Atwater] had gotten the car. They no longer needed my car — a ride, and they had borrowed his mother’s PT Cruiser — purple PT Cruiser and went to Chapel Hill.
And they explained to me that they seen Eve Carson get in her car, and they rushed the car — rushed towards her car. Him and [Atwater] got out his mother’s car and they rushed the car. And when they rushed and got in the car, they explained to me — [Defendant] explained that he got in the driver’s seat and [Atwater] had gotten in the back seat and had Eve Carson hostage with the gun to her head.
And then he also explained to me leaving — he explained to me leaving. They left there and made threats to her about the card, the ATM machine card. And he said the whole time Eve Carson was in the back seat, she was pleading for her life and explained that they didn’t have to do what they was doing. And he also explained to me that they went to a store to use the card, to the way it had happened. And he also explained how it happened, how they used the card and how [Atwater] was in the back. [Atwater] was fiddling with her clothes and touching her in certain parts of her body.
And he also explained to me going to — after this, explained to me about them going to somewhere in the woods, if I’m not mistaken, and to where she was plead[460]*460ing with them, begging for her life, explaining that they didn’t have to do what they were doing; that they could take whatever they want. They didn’t have to do what they were doing.
And he explained to me — and I asked him — I said, “so what led to y’all murdering her?” And he explained to me because that she had seen their face. And then he explained to me how they — how they murdered her. He explained to me that he shot her five times with a .25 caliber. And then he explained to me that she was still alive; that she took the bullets, and she ate them without — and she was still alive. She was still moving and stuff. And he explained to me that . . . Atwater stood over top of her with a .410 gauge, and if I’m not mistaken, he told me he shot her in the chest. And when he explained shooting her in the chest, he said he no longer heard anything out of her. She was dead.

Other evidence linking Defendant to the crime included a match between Defendant’s DNA profile and the DNA profile of a swabbing taken of the interior driver’s side door panel of Carson’s SUV and footwear impressions from receipts found in the interior of the vehicle which were consistent with Defendant’s shoes.

Defendant did not present any evidence. The jury returned verdicts of guilty on all charges. The trial court sentenced Defendant to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for the first-degree murder conviction, and consecutive terms of 100 to 129 months and 77 to 102 months for the first-degree kidnapping and robbery with a dangerous weapon convictions. The court arrested judgment on the felonious larceny and felonious possession of stolen goods convictions. Defendant gave oral notice of appeal in open court.

On 29 August 2012, Defendant filed a motion for appropriate relief (“MAR”) with this Court, seeking remand for resentencing on his first-degree murder conviction pursuant to Miller v. Alabama,_ U.S._, 183 L. Ed. 2d 407 (2012). On 6 September 2012, the State filed a response to Defendant’s MAR, conceding that, in light of Miller and subsequently-enacted state statutes, Defendant must be resentenced. The MAR was referred to this panel for decision.

[461]*461 Discussion

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Bluebook (online)
737 S.E.2d 432, 225 N.C. App. 456, 2013 N.C. App. LEXIS 132, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-lovette-ncctapp-2013.