State v. Thompson

654 S.E.2d 486, 187 N.C. App. 341, 2007 N.C. App. LEXIS 2432
Court of Appeals of North Carolina·Decided December 4, 2007·No. COA07-351·Published·Cited by 5 cases

Opinion

ARROWOOD, Judge.

Defendant, Torriano Thompson, appeals from judgment entered on his conviction of first degree murder and armed robbery. We find no error.

In the early morning hours of 24 May 2003, law enforcement officers from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department were summoned to the Howard Johnson hotel on Tuckaseegee Road in Charlotte, North Carolina (the Howard Johnson). There they found Arthur Reyes (Reyes) lying on the floor of his room, having died from gunshot wounds to his knee and chest. On 29 May 2003, Defendant was arrested and charged with armed robbery and first degree murder of Reyes. In April 2006, almost three years after his arrest, Defendant was tried before a Mecklenburg County jury.

The State’s trial evidence tended to show, in pertinent part, the following: In May 2003 Reyes was employed in the construction industry. On Friday 23 May 2003, Reyes received his salary in cash and checked into Room 147 at the Howard Johnson. Pankaj Patel (Patel), the owner of the Howard Johnson, testified that he noticed a number of visitors to Reyes’ room, including Virgil Young (Young), a man whom Patel had previously banned from the hotel. Around midnight on 23 May, Patel and his assistant, Aakush Joshi (Joshi), left the hotel to run some errands. On their return, Patel and Joshi heard gun *343 shots and saw Reyes lying on the floor of Room 147. Patel immediately called 911, and law enforcement officers arrived shortly thereafter. Joshi corroborated Patel’s testimony, and added that the Howard Johnson was frequented by drug users and prostitutes, and that he had seen an African-American man leaving Room 147 just after the gunshots.

The most important testimony came from three of the State’s witnesses: Paula Greene (Greene), Shari Queen (Queen), and Catrina Coates Clarty (Clarty). Greene provided the only eyewitness testimony about the shooting. She testified that on 23 May 2003 she was staying in Room 106 of the Howard Johnson. At that time Greene was a prostitute and frequent user of crack cocaine, with a criminal record that included drug charges. When shown a photograph of Russell Calfee, Greene identified him as a man who was known to give drug users and prostitutes rides in his car in exchange for drugs or money.

On 23 May Calfee gave Greene a ride to the Guest House hotel, located next to the Howard Johnson. The Guest House, like the Howard Johnson, was frequented by drug users and prostitutes. At the Guest House, Greene visited a woman named Jody. Several others were visiting Jody, including Queen, another drug user and prostitute. Queen told the group at Jody’s room that she’d been smoking crack with Reyes, and that he had a lot of money. Queen tried to get someone to help her rob Reyes.

Greene did not want to participate in the robbery. Instead she returned to the Howard Johnson, hoping to negotiate a sex-for-money transaction with Reyes before Queen did, in order to “steal her trick.” Sometime after midnight, Greene went to Reyes’ room, where she and Reyes decided to smoke crack and have sex. A little while later, they heard someone knock on the door and ask to come in. Reyes did not open the door because Greene recognized Queen’s voice and threatened to leave if Reyes let Queen in the room. However, when they heard a second knock a few minutes later, Reyes opened the door.

Greene testified that as soon as the door was open, the Defendant burst into the room holding a gun and shouting at Reyes to “Give me your G — d— money!” Greene urged Reyes to comply with Defendant’s demand. When Reyes did not heed Greene’s advice, the Defendant shot Reyes several times, and Greene saw Reyes fall on the ground. The Defendant took Reyes’ wallet, which Greene described *344 as having a Harley Davidson™ logo and an attached chain, and then ran out of the room.

Queen’s testimony placed Defendant in Reyes’ room at the time Reyes was shot, with a plan to rob Reyes. Queen testified that in 2003 she was a drug addict and prostitute. She first met Defendant in Jody’s room a few days before Reyes was shot. On 23 May 2003 Queen spent time at Jody’s with Defendant and his cousin Eric Sloan (Sloan), before going to the Howard Johnson to engage in prostitution. At the Howard Johnson, Queen introduced herself to Reyes and visited with him in his room for several hours. Reyes told Queen that he wanted crack cocaine and sex, and Queen promised to provide both. She called drug dealers of her acquaintance, and a man she knew as “Duck” came to Room 147 and sold Reyes a small amount of crack cocaine. Queen and Reyes smoked it, and agreed to postpone their sexual activity. A few minutes later, Young joined them and the three smoked crack cocaine and talked. Queen called another drug dealer she knew as “D’Lo,” who sold Reyes a larger quantity of crack cocaine. Queen testified that she and Young noticed that Reyes had a lot of money.

After several hours, Queen excused herself and returned to Jody’s room at the Guest House. Jody was entertaining guests that night, including Greene, Calfee, Defendant, and Sloan. Queen told the assembled friends about Reyes, stressing how much money he appeared to have and tried to recruit someone to help her rob him. Jody was disinclined to help, as she and Reyes were friends. As previously discussed, Greene took the opportunity to sneak away and arrange a paid “date” with Reyes before Queen did. Queen judged Calfee to be insufficiently stalwart for a robbery. However, when Defendant agreed to help Queen steal Reyes’ money, she accepted his offer. Sloan drove Calfee’s car back to the Howard Johnson, accompanied by Defendant, Queen, and Calfee. Queen testified that she and Defendant went to Reyes’ room in the early morning hours of 24 May, with the intention of robbing Reyes. Their plan was for Queen to knock on the door and gain admittance to Reyes’ room. When Reyes opened the door, Queen would leave. Defendant would then pretend to be a drug dealer and when Reyes took out money to pay for drugs, Defendant would grab the money and leave.

At the Howard Johnson, Queen and Defendant disembarked and went to Reyes’ room. Queen corroborated Greene’s testimony that the first time she knocked Reyes refused to open the door. When she knocked again and Reyes opened the door to admit her, Queen imme *345 diately turned and went back to the car. A few minutes after she got back to Calfee’s car, Defendant returned, holding a black wallet with a chain. Defendant told Sloan “I had to shoot him.” They returned to Jody’s room at the Guest House, and Queen and Calfee received $60.00 and $40.00, respectively, for their part in the robbery.

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State v. Thompson, 654 S.E.2d 486, 187 N.C. App. 341, 2007 N.C. App. LEXIS 2432 (N.C. Ct. App. 2007).

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