State v. Nicholson

392 S.E.2d 748, 99 N.C. App. 143, 1990 N.C. App. LEXIS 468
CourtCourt of Appeals of North Carolina
DecidedJune 19, 1990
Docket8922SC871
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 392 S.E.2d 748 (State v. Nicholson) 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. Nicholson, 392 S.E.2d 748, 99 N.C. App. 143, 1990 N.C. App. LEXIS 468 (N.C. Ct. App. 1990).

Opinion

COZORT, Judge.

Defendant appeals from jury verdicts finding defendant guilty of second-degree kidnapping and attempted first-degree forcible rape. We vacate the conviction for attempted first-degree rape but find no error in the conviction for second-degree kidnapping.

The State’s evidence presented at trial tended to show the following: On the morning of 10 October 1988, defendant rang the doorbell of the residence of Betty Jean Thompson to ask for a bandage for his finger. Ms. Thompson knew defendant as her neighbors’ son-in-law and had known defendant’s wife since the wife was a child. Ms. Thompson gave defendant a bandage, and defendant left. Approximately twenty minutes later, defendant returned and asked for some matches. While Ms. Thompson was in the kitchen looking for matches, defendant entered the house and grabbed her by placing his left arm around her neck and shoulder. In his right hand was a pistol which he pointed toward her head. Defendant told Ms. Thompson that he was going to kill her and forced her to walk from the kitchen into the living room, where she either fell or slid down onto the floor. She asked him why he was doing this to her. Defendant never spoke but jerked her up from the floor, placed his hands under her legs and picked her up, and began to carry her across the living room toward *145 the back of the house where the bedrooms and bathrooms were located. Ms. Thompson then screamed and she either fell or was dropped to the floor, and defendant then slammed himself down on top of her. Defendant then began to cry, and Ms. Thompson wiggled free and ran outside. Defendant followed her, told her he was sorry, and handed her the gun. Defendant was later arrested.

Defendant’s version of the events was that he had gotten the gun from his house earlier because he had seen a German Shepherd near the house and he was going to shoot it. When he came back outside with the gun, the dog was gone, and defendant put the gun in his pocket. Defendant then went back inside and started washing dishes but cut his finger. He proceeded to the Thompson residence, gun in hand because he thought he might see the dog again. He received a bandage from Ms. Thompson and returned home. Later he was cold and decided to light a kerosene heater but could not find any matches. He again went to the Thompson residence (with the gun) and asked Ms. Thompson for matches. Ms. Thompson asked him in and he followed her into the kitchen. When she turned around to give him the matches, she saw the gun, panicked, and began to run. They collided in the ensuing confusion; defendant tried to grab her arm and explain. He told her he was not going to hurt her and began crying. After Ms. Thompson ran outside, defendant told her he was sorry he had scared her and gave her the gun.

By his first assignment of error defendant contends that the trial court erred in denying his motion to dismiss the charge of attempted first-degree rape at the close of the State’s evidence because there was insufficient evidence that defendant intended to rape his victim. We agree.

To prove the charge of attempted first-degree rape against defendant, the State was required to prove that defendant had the intent to have vaginal intercourse with the victim by force and against her will and that in the ordinary and likely course of events his assaultive acts would result in the commission of a rape. N.C. Gen. Stat. §§ 14-27.2, 14-27.6 (1989); State v. Dowd, 28 N.C. App. 32, 220 S.E.2d 393 (1975). Although the State is not required to show an actual physical attempt to have sexual intercourse with the victim, there must be substantial evidence that defendant had the intent to gratify his passion upon the victim notwithstanding any resistance on her part. State v. Schultz, 88 *146 N.C. App. 197, 362 S.E.2d 853 (1987), aff’d per curiam, 322 N.C. 467, 368 S.E.2d 386 (1988). Viewing the evidence presented at trial in the light most favorable to the State, as must be done in considering defendant’s motion to dismiss, we fail to discern any evidence that would give rise to a reasonable inference that the attack on the victim was sexually motivated or that defendant at any time had the intent to gratify his passion on the victim. The conviction for attempted first-degree rape must be vacated.

We note that, in vacating a conviction for attempted rape, this Court previously has remanded a similar case for sentencing for assault on a female. See State v. Rushing, 61 N.C. App. 62, 300 S.E.2d 445 (1983), aff'd per curiam, 308 N.C. 804, 303 S.E.2d 822 (1983). More recent decisions, however, have foreclosed that option. In State v. Wortham, 318 N.C. 669, 351 S.E.2d 294 (1987), our Supreme Court ruled that assault on a female is not a lesser included offense of attempted second-degree rape. Relying on Wortham, this Court has held that simple assault is not a lesser included offense of attempted second-degree rape. State v. Robinson, 97 N.C. App. 597, 389 S.E.2d 417 (1990). Therefore, there appears to be no lesser included offense for which defendant could be sentenced on remand.

Defendant next contends that the trial court erred in denying his motion to dismiss the charge of second-degree kidnapping, because the alleged restraint forming the basis of the kidnapping charge was an inherent and inevitable feature of the alleged attempted rape and, therefore, convictions for both violated his constitutional rights against double jeopardy. Our decision to vacate the conviction for attempted first-degree rape renders this issue moot.

Defendant further contends that the trial court erred in failing to instruct on and submit to the jury the offense of false imprisonment as a lesser included offense of second-degree kidnapping. As defendant did not request such an instruction, he would be barred from raising this alleged error on appeal, see N.C.R. App. P. 10(b)(2), unless the omission constituted “plain error.” See State v. Odom, 307 N.C. 655, 300 S.E.2d 375 (1983). Under the plain error rule, an appellate court will review defects in jury instructions despite the failure of a defendant to bring the defect to the attention of the trial court if the defect affected a substantial right. State v. Rathbone, 78 N.C. App. 58, 65, 336 S.E.2d 702, 706 (1985), disc. review denied, 316 N.C. 200, 341 S.E.2d 582 (1986). *147 Defendant must show that the omission was error and that, in light of the record as a whole, the error had a probable impact on the verdict. State v. Bell, 87 N.C. App. 626, 635,

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Bluebook (online)
392 S.E.2d 748, 99 N.C. App. 143, 1990 N.C. App. LEXIS 468, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-nicholson-ncctapp-1990.