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State v. Wilson6/3/2003
PUBLISHED
Frank Wilson ("defendant") appeals from a conviction and judgment entered upon a jury's verdict of guilty of common law robbery. At trial, the State's evidence tended to show that midday on 17 May 2001, Melissa Jane Bridges ("the victim") was leaving work, and as she was walking to her car, a man whom the victim later identified as defendant approached and stopped her. Defendant explained to the victim that he had been dropped off in Winston-Salem on his way home to Raleigh by two of his friends.
Defendant, who claimed he was not familiar with Winston-Salem, asked the victim for ten dollars to purchase a bus ticket to Raleigh. The victim testified that after she declined to give money to defendant, he grabbed her purse with his right hand, pushed her to the ground with his left, and ran away.
Although the victim was frightened and had sustained abrasions and bruises to her ankle, she was anxious to retrieve her property, so the victim got up and chased defendant. The victim recovered her purse and wallet, which had been dropped by defendant after he removed the currency in it, consisting of a single twenty-dollar bill. The victim then flagged down a police officer to explain what had occurred and to give him a description of her attacker. Afterwards, Dr. William Dunn ("Dr. Dunn"), a podiatrist and the victim's employer, provided medical treatment for the cuts and bruises to her ankle. The victim noted the incident in her appointment book.
The victim further testified that, approximately two weeks later, on 4 June 2001 around 8:30 in the morning, she was on her way to work when defendant again approached her and asked for ten dollars so that he might get back to Raleigh after two of his friends had dropped him off in Winston-Salem. The victim asked defendant to wait there, and she went inside to summon the police. Defendant was subsequently taken into custody by Officer S. P. Dickerson ("Officer Dickerson") and charged with larceny from the person.
Defendant was indicted by the Forsyth County Grand Jury on 30 July 2001 for common law robbery in violation of N.C. Gen. Stat. ยง 14-87.1. Defendant pled not guilty, and the case came to trial on 22 January 2002 in the Superior Court of Forsyth County, the Honorable James M. Webb, presiding. After the close of the State's case, defendant testified on his own behalf and denied that he knew or robbed the victim. On crossexamination, the State inquired as to defendant's previous convictions. Both at the close of the State's case and at the close of defendant's evidence, defendant moved to dismiss the charges based upon insufficiency of the evidence. The trial court denied defendant's motions and sent the case to the jury, instructing, in part, that the jury could use the evidence of prior convictions for credibility purposes only and not as evidence of guilt of the crime charged. The jury found defendant guilty of the crime charged, and defendant was sentenced to fourteen to seventeen months in jail and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $500.00 to the victim. Defendant appeals.
Defendant asserts that (I) the indictment was fatally defective and that the trial court erred by (II) denying defendant's motion to dismiss; (III) ordering defendant to pay $500.00 in restitution; and (IV) instructing the jury to consider defendant's prior criminal convictions for credibility purposes.
I. Indictment
Defendant asserts the indictment for common law robbery in the instant case was fatally defective because the foreman of the grand jury failed to indicate that the witnesses identified on the face of the indictment appeared before the grand jury and gave testimony
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