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State v. Randle12/21/2004
PUBLISHED
Teddy Lynn Randle ("defendant") appeals from judgments entered 4 April 2003 consistent with a jury verdict finding him guilty of attempted first degree burglary, first degree burglary, first degree rape, and first degree sex offense. For the reasons stated herein, we find no error.
The State's evidence presented at trial tended to show that on 17 April 2002, defendant broke into the house of his 81 year-old neighbor, Sue Harris ("Harris"). Defendant raped and sodomized Harris in her bed. After defendant left the house, Harris called 911. Upon arrival, police officers found two damaged doors and a broken window pane in the house. Harris was taken to a hospital where she was examined in the emergency room. Harris had two broken vertebrae in her back, bruising on one eyelid and her left forehead, ruptured blood vessels on the sides of her face and neck, bruised upper and lower extremities, and vaginal and rectal injuries. Upon examination, Harris was admitted to the hospital. Harris begged for pain relief and was given an intravenous narcotic for her back pain. Harris is still in pain most of the time, cannot bend over, has difficulty walking or standing for long periods of time, and has frequent nightmares.
Upon investigation, police found sperm on the crotch of Harris' panties and DNA from the sperm matched defendant's DNA profile. Pubic hairs found on Harris and a head hair found on one of Harris' pillows were microscopically consistent with defendant's hairs.
A week after the attack on Harris, defendant attempted to break into the Rodgers' house, located on the same street as Harris' house. On the night of 24 April 2002, Mrs. Rodgers ("Rodgers") noticed someone standing outside her sliding glass door and called the police. Upon arrival, police officers found that the screen door had been cut open and Rodgers noticed that an outside chair had been moved. The police took finger and palm prints from the chair. The prints matched those of defendant. Later that evening, Rodgers saw someone walk past her bedroom window and, in the morning, someone tried to open her sliding glass door. The finger prints on the glass door matched those of defendant. In January 2003, Rodgers found a pair of underwear in her closet and gave them to the police. Test results revealed defendant's sperm on the underwear.
After being taken into police custody and advised of his Miranda rights, defendant stated that he had "fooled with the lady," referring to his attack on Harris. Defendant said he pulled down his pants and got into bed with Harris. Defendant, however, stated that he did not penetrate Harris but rather ejaculated on himself. Defendant also told police that he sat in the chair outside Rodgers' back door, looked in, and then tried to enter through the back door. Defendant stated that he ejaculated on himself behind the house when he was unable to get into the house. Defendant was charged with attempted first degree burglary, first degree burglary, first degree rape, and first degree sex offense. The case then proceeded to trial. During closing arguments, defense counsel told jury members that they must be entirely convinced of each and every element of the crimes. As serious injury is the essential difference between first and second degree rape, defense counsel then attempted to cast doubt on the seriousness of the mental and physical injuries to Harris by arguing Harris did not suffer serious injury. Counsel then emphasized the lack of penetration of the victim, pointing out that defendant ejaculated on himself. In counsel's final plea to the jury, defense counsel argued, "Teddy Randle is not guilty of first degree rape. Teddy Randle is not guilty of first d
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