 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
State v. Ruff11/4/1997
WYNN, Judge.
In this appeal, the defendant contests only the sentencing phase of his trial. He contends that trial court erred in: (1) finding as an aggravating factor that the offenses he committed were done with premeditation and deliberation; (2) failing to find as a mitigating factor that he was a person of good character and reputation in his community; (3) failing to find as a mitigating factor that he was suffering from a mental condition that significantly reduced his culpability for the offenses committed; and (4) applying North Carolina's Firearm Enhancement Statute to aggravate his second-degree kidnaping conviction. We find that (1) there was substantial evidence that the offense was committed with premeditation and deliberation; (2) defendant failed to present uncontradicted, substantial and inherently credible evidence that would warrant the finding of the mitigating factors he requested; and (3) the imposition of the firearm enhancement statute in the case is prohibited by our Supreme Court's case of State v. Westmoreland. Accordingly, we vacate only that part of the defendant's sentence that was enhanced under the firearm enhancement statute.
FACTS
At the 12 February 1996 criminal session of the Superior Court of Cleveland County, defendant was tried and convicted of first-degree kidnaping and first-degree rape. Judgment on defendant's first-degree kidnaping conviction was arrested and instead, defendant was sentenced for the offense of second-degree kidnaping. Defendant received the following sentences: For the Class E felony of second-degree kidnaping - a minimum sentence of 32 months and a maximum sentence of 60 months, which was then enhanced under the firearm enhancement statute by 60 months for the use of a firearm in the commission of the offenses; and for the Class B1 felony of first-degree rape - a consecutive minimum term of 320 months and a maximum term of 393 months. We affirm all of sentences awarded by the trial court except for the 60 months added under the firearm enhancement statute.
Although additional facts of this case are not particularly relevant to our Discussion of defendant's last assignment of error, they are significant for purposes of our Discussion regarding the other three assignments raised by defendant. As such, we briefly summarize below the facts presented by the state and accepted by the jury at defendant's trial. We omit the name of the female in this case because of our concern for the female's privacy and because there is no issue of her identity in this case.
At 12:30 p.m. on 13 June 1995, a female accountant and bookkeeper at Lutz Oil Company in Shelby, North Carolina, arrived at the company's Kings Mountain office after having been asked by the company's president to fill in for another worker. A few minutes after she arrived at the office, the female went to the office bathroom to do some cleaning. While cleaning, she heard the side door of the office open; so, she left the bathroom and went to the front counter to attend to, what she believed, was a customer. The customer, later identified as defendant, asked her for some cigarettes. She reached for the cigarettes and when she turned around, defendant was pointing a gun at her face. Defendant then told her to be quiet, that he wanted her to cooperate with him, and that if she tried to run or scream he would kill her.
Poking his gun in her side, defendant then escorted her out the door and into his pickup truck. At some point, they arrived at Stoney Point Road where the defendant shoved the female out of his truck and, with the gun at her back, led her to a nearby field. After walking a short distance in the field, defendant then
Page 1 2 3 4 5 North Carolina Personal Injury Attorneys
Personal Injury Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|