State v. Whittington

728 S.E.2d 385, 221 N.C. App. 403, 2012 WL 2282546, 2012 N.C. App. LEXIS 780
CourtCourt of Appeals of North Carolina
DecidedJune 19, 2012
DocketNo. COA11-1197
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 728 S.E.2d 385 (State v. Whittington) 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. Whittington, 728 S.E.2d 385, 221 N.C. App. 403, 2012 WL 2282546, 2012 N.C. App. LEXIS 780 (N.C. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

McGEE, Judge.

Glenn Edward Whittington (Defendant) was indicted on three counts of trafficking in opium on 11 May 2009: Count I, trafficking in opium by sale; Count II, trafficking in opium by delivery; and Count III, trafficking in opium by possession.

[404]*404Sergeant Phillip Lewis (Sergeant Lewis), an investigator with the narcotics division of the Nash County Sheriffs Office, supervised a controlled drug transaction (the transaction) between Defendant and Joey Sullivan (Sullivan) on 2 July 2008. Sergeant Lewis instructed Sullivan on how to conduct the transaction, and gave Sullivan the money to use in the transaction. Sullivan then drove to the house where Defendant was located, and Defendant let Sullivan inside the house. Sullivan handed Defendant $560.00 in exchange for sixteen pills. The transaction was recorded on audio and video. The pills were sent to the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) for analysis. Defendant was subsequently arrested.

A lab report (the lab report) dated 8 December 2009, prepared by Brittany Dewell (Dewell), a chemical analyst, identified the pills as: “Oxycodone — Schedule II Opium Derivative. Weight of tablets — 4.3 grams.” The State filed a “Request for Voluntary Discovery” on 15 February 2010 and, in that document, notified Defendant that it intended “to introduce the following evidence in the trial of the above referenced criminal case: .... Pursuant to G.S. § 90-95(g), any and all reports prepared by the N.C. State Bureau of Investigation concerning the analysis of substances seized in the above-captioned case. A copy of report(s) will be delivered upon request.” There is no record evidence that Defendant specifically requested a copy of any reports.

At trial, when the State sought to offer the lab report into evidence without calling Dewell, the chemical analyst who had produced the lab report, Defendant objected. Defendant argued that introducing the lab report without Defendant having an opportunity to cross-examine Dewell violated Defendant’s constitutional rights under the confrontation clause of the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The trial court overruled Defendant’s objection, and allowed the lab report to be introduced through a witness other than Dewell. The jury found Defendant guilty on all three counts on 7 April 2011. Defendant appeals.

I. Indictments

In Defendant’s first argument, he contends the trial court lacked subject matter jurisdiction over the charge of trafficking in opium by sale because the indictment was fatally defective. We agree.

The State agrees with Defendant’s position that the indictment for Count I, trafficking by sale, was fatally defective because it failed to name the person to whom Defendant allegedly sold or delivered the controlled substance. State v. Wall, 96 N.C. App. 45, 49, 384 S.E.2d [405]*405581, 583 (1989) (“[t]he law is settled in this state that an indictment for the sale and/or delivery of a controlled substance must accurately name the person to whom the defendant allegedly sold or delivered, if that person is known”) (citations omitted); see also State v. Bennett, 280 N.C. 167, 168-69, 185 S.E.2d 147, 149 (1971). The indictment for Count I states that the sale was “to a confidential informant[.]” It is undisputed that the name of the confidential informant was known. The failure to identify specifically the person to whom the opium was sold constitutes a fatal defect in the indictment, which means the trial court never obtained jurisdiction over the matter. State v. McKoy, 265 N.C. 380, 381, 144 S.E.2d 46, 47-48 (1965) (a fatally defective indictment is insufficient to confer jurisdiction on the trial court).

Though not argued by Defendant, and not addressed by the State, the indictment for Count II, trafficking by delivery, is similarly defective. The indictment for Count II also fails to name the person to whom Defendant allegedly delivered the opium. This is a fatal defect. Wall, 96 N.C. App. at 49, 384 S.E.2d at 583; Bennett, 280 N.C. at 168-69, 185 S.E.2d at 149; see also State v. Wynn, 204 N.C. App. 371, 696 S.E.2d 203 (2010) (unpublished); State v. Esquivel, 184 N.C. App. 379, 646 S.E.2d 443 (2007) (unpublished). Because this is a jurisdictional issue, we address it ex mero motu. McKoy, 265 N.C. at 381, 144 S.E.2d at 48.

The indictments for Counts I and II are fatally defective. Therefore, we vacate judgment on both these counts. Count III, trafficking by possession, does not suffer the same defect as it does not involve the transfer of the controlled substance by Defendant to another party.

II. Lab Report

In Defendant’s second argument, he contends that the trial court erred in admitting the lab report without the testimony of the chemical analyst who performed the testing. We agree.

Defendant objected to the admission of the lab report on constitutional grounds, citing Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts, 557 U.S. 305, -, 174 L. Ed. 2d 314, 321-322 (2009), arguing that admitting the lab report into evidence without affording Defendant an opportunity to confront the chemical analyst who produced the report violated the Sixth Amendment of the United States Constitution. The State argued that Defendant had waived his right to confront the chemical analyst, and the trial court overruled Defendant’s objection.

[406]*406This Court reviews alleged violations of constitutional rights de novo. If a defendant shows that an error has occurred, the State bears the burden of proving the error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 15A-1443(b) (2009). Under the de novo standard of review, this Court “considers the matter anew and freely substitutes its own judgment for that of the [trial court].”

State v. Brewington, 204 N.C. App. 68, 72, 693 S.E.2d 182, 185-86 (2010) (citations omitted).

It is undisputed that the lab report was introduced into evidence without Defendant having had an opportunity to cross-examine the chemical analyst who performed the actual analysis. The State, citing Melendez-Diaz, 557 U.S. at —, 174 L. Ed. 2d at 321-322, concedes that Defendant had the right to confront the chemical analyst unless Defendant waived the right to confrontation. “The right to confrontation may, of course, be waived, including by failure to object to the offending evidence; and States may adopt procedural rules governing the exercise of such objections.” Id. at, -, 174 L. Ed. 2d at 323 n.3.

North Carolina has adopted a statute governing the admission of chemical analysis reports without the testimony of the analyst:

Whenever matter is submitted to the “North Carolina State Crime Laboratory ...

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Related

State v. Whittington
Court of Appeals of North Carolina, 2014
State v. Whittington
Supreme Court of North Carolina, 2014
State v. Ward
742 S.E.2d 550 (Court of Appeals of North Carolina, 2013)

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Bluebook (online)
728 S.E.2d 385, 221 N.C. App. 403, 2012 WL 2282546, 2012 N.C. App. LEXIS 780, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-whittington-ncctapp-2012.