Christopher Roseboro was sentenced to death by the State of North Carolina for the murder of Martha “Gertie” Edwards. According to court documents Christopher Roseboro would break into Martha “Gertie” Edwards and would murder the woman during the course of the robbery. Christopher Roseboro would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
The State’s evidence at trial tended to show the following. Roger Bell lived with defendant in a one-bedroom apartment on West Second Avenue beside the victim’s apartment. On the evening of 13 March 1992, Bell and defendant were both at home, and Bell was in need of money to pay rent. He noticed the victim’s apartment was dark, so he removed the window screen, reached inside and took two ceramic vases and a telephone. Bell brought these items to the apartment he shared with defendant and hid them. Bell then went back to the victim’s apartment and crawled in through the window. As he looked for other items to take, he heard someone snoring and discovered the victim asleep in her bed. This unnerved Bell, as he had previously thought no one was at home, so he unlocked the kitchen door and left. Bell explained to defendant what had happened, and together, they decided to go back to the victim’s apartment and take a floor-model television set Bell had seen. They entered the apartment through the kitchen door and carried the victim’s television back to their apartment. Upon returning again to the victim’s apartment to wipe away their fingerprints, Bell noticed defendant walking toward the bedroom. Bell told defendant they needed to leave, but defendant “shushed” him. Bell left defendant in the apartment and went home; he fell asleep before defendant returned.
In the following days, defendant showed Bell a microwave, a radio, silverware and a pocketbook that he had taken from the victim’s apartment after Bell left.
Defendant testified on his own behalf that on the night of 13 March 1992, he smoked crack cocaine and went to bed. He woke up later that evening and saw Bell carrying two ceramic vases and a telephone into their apartment. Defendant asked Bell what he was doing, but Bell told defendant not to worry about anything. Bell left and came back again with a microwave and a radio. This time, defendant asked Bell how he was able to take these things from someone’s house without waking them up. Bell again told defendant not to worry about it. Bell left once more, and while he was gone, defendant smoked more crack cocaine. When Bell returned this time, he had a pocketbook and silverware. Bell gave defendant a twenty-dollar bill he found in the pocketbook, and together, they walked to Cherry Street so defendant could buy some more cocaine. On the way, they passed a topless bar known as “Leather and Lace,” and Bell tossed the pocketbook into the bed of a blue truck in the parking lot.
Defendant decided to go with Bell to the victim’s apartment and take the floor-model television set. When they returned to wipe away any fingerprints they might have left behind, defendant went into the victim’s bedroom. The victim had a pillow over her face, and defendant thought she was dead. Defendant testified he then decided to have sex with the victim.
An autopsy of the victim revealed the presence of several recent bruises on her arms, nose and lips. Additionally, her shoulder bone was dislocated, and fluid was found in her lungs. The pathologist indicated that in his opinion, the cause of death was consistent with smothering. Based upon fluid and blood present in the vagina and lacerations *317 on the vaginal wall, the pathologist concluded the victim had been raped. In the pathologist’s opinion, because of the small amount of blood present in the vagina, the victim died just before she was raped or just after the rape began. According to DNA test results, the DNA banding patterns from the male fraction of the rectal and vaginal swabs taken from the victim were a visual match to the DNA banding patterns of the defendant; this visual match was confirmed by computer analysis. Bell’s DNA banding patterns were a nonmatch. The probability of another unrelated individual having the same DNA banding patterns as defendant’s is approximately 1 in 3.5 billion for the North Carolina black population. Other evidence introduced at trial will be discussed at later points in this opinion where relevant.
Roger Blakeney was sentenced to death by the State of North Carolina for the murder of Callie Washington Huntley. According to court documents Roger Blakeney would break into the home of Callie Washington Huntley who he would murder during a course of a robbery and then set the house on fire. Roger Blakeney was arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
The state presented evidence at trial which is summarized as follows: On 15 April 1996, between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 12:00 noon, defendant, age thirty-three, opened and crawled through a back window in his mother’s home for the purpose of stealing something of value that he could sell. Defendant stole three of his mother’s rings, a brown leather pouch, approximately $4.00 in change, a small herringbone chain, and his mother’s savings account deposit book. Defendant then telephoned his wife and told her he would be home in a few minutes.
After defendant finished speaking with his wife, the victim, age seventy-six, drove behind the house. The victim had lived with defendant’s mother for over twenty years. Defendant hid in a small room behind the refrigerator as the victim entered the residence. According to defendant’s confession, which was admitted into evidence at trial, defendant entered the kitchen, and the two began arguing. Defendant told authorities that he turned to leave, but the victim grabbed him. Defendant charged at the victim, grabbed and wrestled a .22-caliber revolver out of the victim’s hand, and hit the victim in the back of the head with the butt of the gun. The victim fell facedown on the kitchen floor and started bleeding. According to defendant, after some additional period of physical struggle, a metal can of kerosene was accidentally spilled. Defendant also claimed that a cigarette he was smoking fell out of his mouth at some time during the struggle. According to defendant, at some point, he pulled the victim off the floor, sat him in a chair, and wrapped an electrical cord around his hands and legs. Defendant then removed $78.00 from the victim’s wallet, exited the residence, and departed the area in defendant’s vehicle.
Terry Lee Bivens (Bivens), defendant’s longstanding friend, worked at a nearby business and observed defendant departing his mother’s residence on the day in question. Bivens recognized defendant’s vehicle. Seconds later, Bivens noticed smoke coming from the residence. Bivens and several other witnesses looked on as the house began to burn.
Firefighters arrived at the scene and discovered the victim’s wire-bound body as they fought the fire. Agent Van Worth Shaw, Jr. (Agent Shaw), an arson investigator for the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI), determined that the fire had two distinct points of origin and was caused by the use of a flammable liquid. In contrast to defendant’s statement, all accidental causes were eliminated during the investigation, and Agent Shaw opined that the fire was intentionally set. The investigation revealed traces of kerosene on samples taken from the couch in the den and on the victim’s clothing.
Dr. Robert Thompson, a forensic pathologist with the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, performed an autopsy on the victim’s body. The autopsy revealed that seventy-five percent of the victim’s skin was charred. Dr. Thompson also observed that the victim had received a wound to the back and a wound to the left temporal area of the head, which resulted in injury to the brain. Dr. Thompson opined that the victim was conscious for approximately three to five minutes after the fire started, that the victim died within approximately ten minutes, and that the cause of death was carbon monoxide poisoning produced by the fire.
On 16 April 1996 law enforcement officers located defendant at a friend’s residence, sitting in the passenger seat of his vehicle. Defendant consented to a search of his vehicle, where the officers found his mother’s stolen jewelry, leather pouch, and savings deposit book in the glove compartment. The authorities later recovered the .22-caliber revolver that defendant had taken from the victim. Defendant had exchanged the gun for a loan. The investigation also revealed that bloodstains found on defendant’s clothing were consistent with the victim’s blood.
Defendant did not present evidence during the guilt-innocence phase of trial.
Marcus Mitchell was sentenced to death by the State of North Carolina for the murders of Dameon Armstrong, Dewayne Rogers, and Robin Watkins. According to court documents Marcus Mitchell was on a crime spree that consisted of multiple armed robberies that ended with the murders of Dameon Armstrong, Dewayne Rogers, and Robin Watkins. Marcus Williams was arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
The State’s evidence tended to show that defendant, along with Antonio Mitchell, Durron Ray, and Tildren Hunter, drove to Rogers’ home in Zebulon, North Carolina, on the night of 3 March 1997 to steal firearms. Defendant, Mitchell, Ray, and Hunter were each dressed in black and wearing ski masks and gloves. Defendant had a .45-caliber handgun in his possession, while Hunter carried a .40-caliber handgun, and Ray carried a .380-caliber handgun.
Once the group arrived near Rogers’ home, Mitchell remained in the car while defendant, Ray, and Hunter approached the house. Defendant knocked on the door, and Ray and Hunter hid from view. When Armstrong, a fourteen-year-old boy, answered the door, defendant pulled him onto the porch. Ray and Hunter came out from their hiding places, and defendant directed Hunter to kick in the door of the house. Defendant and Hunter then entered the house, and Ray stayed on the porch with Armstrong.
Defendant discovered Rogers and Watkins in a bathroom as he and Hunter were searching the house for firearms. Defendant forced Rogers and Watkins to lie on the floor in the living room. Defendant and Hunter then forced Armstrong to assist them in searching for firearms. At the conclusion of the search, Armstrong was brought into the living room and forced to lie on the floor with Rogers and Watkins.
After taking the keys to Watkins’ car, defendant indicated to Ray and Hunter that they should kill the victims. Ray took Armstrong to the back of the house while defendant stayed in the living room and shot Rogers and Watkins. Immediately after defendant shot Rogers and Watkins, Ray shot Armstrong five times. Defendant, Ray, and Hunter then took Watkins’ car and drove to the location where Mitchell was waiting with the getaway car. Defendant, Ray, and Hunter got into the car with Mitchell. After taking Mitchell home, defendant, Ray, and Hunter drove to Raleigh, North Carolina.
Meanwhile, Armstrong’s uncle, Gabriel Miles, heard the gunshots from his nearby home and went to investigate. Once inside Rogers’ house, Miles discovered the bodies of Rogers, Watkins, and Armstrong. Miles then called 911 from a neighbor’s home.
On 8 March 1997 Raleigh police officers searched a hotel room occupied by defendant. The officers discovered a money bag, two walkie-talkies, several “hoodies” or items that may be worn over the top of the head and pulled down over the face, several gloves, a .380-caliber Lorcin handgun, and a .45-caliber Ruger handgun. Officers found a .40-caliber Smith and Wesson handgun in another room in the same hotel. The State’s ballistics expert later matched the bullets that killed Watkins and Rogers and the shell casings in the living room to the .45-caliber Ruger handgun found in defendant’s hotel room. The ballistics expert also matched the bullets that killed Armstrong and the shell casings in the back bedroom to the .380-caliber Lorcin handgun found in defendant’s hotel room. Investigators from the Wake County Sheriff’s Department questioned defendant later that day, and defendant confessed to shooting Rogers and Watkins.
The pathologist who performed the autopsies on the victims determined that Watkins and Rogers each died from a gunshot wound to the back of the head. The pathologist found that Armstrong suffered gunshot wounds to the chest, head, buttocks, back, and right knee. The bullet wound to Armstrong’s chest penetrated his lung and caused massive hemorrhaging that would have caused the victim to lose consciousness in two to five minutes. The chest wound caused Armstrong’s death within two to ten minutes.
Elrico Fowler was sentenced to death by the State of North Carolina for the murder of Bobby Richmond. According to court documents Elrico Fowler was in the process of robbing a motel when he shot and killed the clerk Bobby Richmond. Elrico Fowler would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
The evidence at trial is summarized as follows: On 31 December 1995 at approximately 10:45 p.m., Bobby Richmond (Richmond), an employee at a Howard Johnson’s Motel in Charlotte, North Carolina, entered the motel lobby looking for ice. Bharat Shah (Shah) was working as the motel night clerk. About five minutes later, two black males entered the motel and approached the check-in counter. One of the men pulled out a gun and ordered Richmond to get on the ground. The other man ordered Shah to “open the register and give [him] the money.” While Shah was handing over the money, the man with the gun shot both Richmond and Shah. He then ordered Shah to open the office safe. When Shah stated he did not have the combination, the man shot Shah again. Both assailants then fled the motel.
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police arrived at the scene at 11:04 p.m. and found Richmond and Shah lying near the counter. Richmond was unresponsive. Shah was struggling to speak with police. He told the police they had been robbed by two black males, one wearing a green jacket.
When paramedics arrived, they found a large wound in the middle of Richmond’s back. Richmond had no carotid pulse. The paramedics determined Shah’s life was in danger. A hospital surgeon later found two wounds in Shah’s left thigh, two more wounds in Shah’s back, and a wound in Shah’s right forearm.
A high-velocity weapon caused Shah’s thigh injury. Doctors removed two .44-caliber bullet jacket fragments from his forearm during surgery. A .44-caliber bullet jacket was also found in Richmond’s left lung. Police located a .44-caliber bullet core in the motel carpet beneath Richmond’s chest wound. Police also found a .44-caliber bullet jacket and a large fragment from a .44-caliber bullet jacket at the scene. Both had been fired from the same weapon used to shoot Richmond. Other pieces of metal found at the scene were also consistent with .44-caliber ammunition.
Richmond had an entrance wound in his back and an exit wound in his chest. His chest was against a hard surface when he was shot. The evidence showed Richmond was likely shot from a distance of no more than three feet.
Officers found Richmond’s wallet at the scene next to his body. The wallet contained no money. The cash register drawer and a plastic change drawer next to the register also contained no money. Approximately $300.00 was stolen from the motel during the robbery.
Jimmy Guzman (Guzman), the owner of a restaurant in the motel lobby, heard gunshots around 11:00 p.m. Guzman looked through the glass door of his restaurant and saw an individual standing behind the check-in counter, looking down. Guzman said the man was black, in his late twenties, and approximately six feet tall. The man was wearing a green toboggan and a camouflage army jacket. The man had a pointed nose and hair on his face but not a full beard. Shortly after the robbery, police showed Guzman a man in a green jacket, but he was unable to say whether this was the man from the motel.
On 8 January 1996 police showed Guzman a photo array which included a 1995 photo of defendant with a full beard. Guzman said none of the men looked like the one he saw in the motel. On 11 January 1996 police showed Guzman a second photo array with a picture of another suspect. Guzman said the picture of the other suspect resembled the man he had seen at the crime scene.
On 14 January 1996 police showed Guzman another photo array produced by a computer. It included a picture taken two days earlier of defendant with a slightly unshaven face. Guzman picked out defendant’s picture as the one most closely resembling the man at the motel. He was unable to state for sure, however, that defendant was the man he had seen. On 3 April 1996 police showed Guzman another photo array, without a picture of defendant. Guzman selected two photos resembling the man he had seen.
Before the pretrial hearing on 14 October 1997, the prosecutor told Guzman that at any proceeding where he was called to testify, defendant would be seated between his attorneys at the defense table. At the pretrial hearing, Guzman identified defendant as the man he had seen. Guzman said this identification was based on his memory of seeing defendant at the crime scene. At trial, Guzman again identified defendant as the man he had seen.
On 1 January 1996 at approximately 4:00 p.m., Sergeant Diego Anselmo visited Shah in the hospital. Shah provided an account of the robbery and shootings. Shah said Richmond entered the lobby looking for ice around 10:45 p.m. Shah described the two men who entered the motel and robbed and shot him as black males around twenty-five or twenty-six years old, thinly built, and approximately 5′7″ tall. He said both individuals wore red ski caps with black stripes. One man, wearing a gray and black flannel shirt, asked for a room. The other man, wearing a red flannel shirt, removed a revolver from his waistband and ordered Richmond onto the ground. The man with no gun ordered Shah to open the register and give him the money. As Shah complied, the man in the red shirt shot Richmond and Shah. The man with the gun ordered Shah to open the safe. When Shah stated that he did not have the combination, the man shot Shah again. Both individuals then fled.
On 8 January 1996 Investigator Christopher Fish (Investigator Fish) interviewed Shah. During this interview Shah provided additional details about the robbery. Shah stated he gave one of the men approximately $300.00 out of the register. The man to whom he handed the money was a black male with small eyes and a goatee, and was approximately the same height as Shah, about 5′4″. This man was wearing a black checked flannel shirt and dark toboggan. Shah stated that the man at the end of the counter with the gun was also black and looked similar to his accomplice although he was a little taller. This man had unshaven hair on his face but not a full beard. The man was wearing a red checked flannel shirt and dark toboggan. Shah thought the gun was black and about six inches long. The man shot Richmond first and then shot Shah in the leg. Investigator Fish showed photographs to Shah at the interview, and one of the photographs depicted defendant with a full beard. Shah said during the interview that he did not get a good look at the shooter because he was primarily focused on the man taking the money. Shah said he probably could not recognize the suspects.
Shah was released from the hospital on 14 January 1996 and eventually moved to India. The state made repeated attempts to locate Shah. Investigator Sam L. Price (Investigator Price), an investigator with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, spoke to Shah’s brother in California as early as September 1996. Investigator Price obtained Shah’s telephone number in India and spoke to Shah by phone in October 1996. Investigator Price told Shah that the state would provide him with air transportation, lodging, meals, and whatever was necessary to care for his injuries if he would return to North Carolina to testify. Investigator Price further promised that Shah would be picked up in California and provided police protection while in Charlotte. Despite the state’s offer to pay for his air transportation, accommodations, and meals, as well as to provide police protection, Shah refused to return to the United States to testify at trial.
The state provided defendant with written notice of its intent to offer Shah’s hearsay testimony at defendant’s trial. In the state’s initial notice, the state recited that Shah was living at an unknown address in India. The state later served defendant with an amended notice that included Shah’s telephone number in India.
Several people testified concerning defendant’s statements and actions before and after the events at the motel. Jermale Jones (Jones) said defendant told him on Thanksgiving 1995 about a potential plot to rob a Howard Johnson’s Motel. Further, while incarcerated with Jones in the Mecklenburg County jail in March 1996, defendant told Jones that he entered the Howard Johnson’s with a handgun to attempt a robbery and that when the people working at the motel made him ask twice for the money, defendant shot them. Defendant said the gun he used was “a big old .44.”
Edward Adams (Adams) testified that he saw defendant at an apartment around 8:00 p.m. on 31 December 1995. Defendant left between 9:00 and 10:00 p.m. with two other men and returned between midnight and 1:00 a.m. Defendant stated he was going to the Sugar Shack, a local nightclub, and left with some other people. On the evening of 1 January 1996, Adams purchased a .44-caliber revolver from defendant. The gun was destroyed the next day. In April 1996 defendant spoke with Adams while they were both incarcerated. Defendant asked Adams where the gun was located, and Adams told him the gun had been destroyed. Defendant responded, “I’m glad,” and asked Adams not to tell people about the gun. Defendant also told Adams that the district attorney did not know the identity of the person who purchased the gun.
Leo McIntyre, Jr. (McIntyre) testified that he went to the Sugar Shack on 31 December 1995 and spoke with defendant. Defendant was dressed in army fatigues. Defendant told McIntyre that he shot two people during a robbery at a Howard Johnson’s. Defendant also stated that he only got two or three hundred dollars and was now broke because he had paid for his friends to get into the club. Later on that week, McIntyre saw defendant at a car wash. Defendant told him then that, although he thought he had killed both people at the robbery, one of them had lived.
Waymon Fleming (Fleming) lived with defendant in December 1995. Defendant told Fleming that he robbed the motel, obtained money from the cash register, and then shot people who would not open the safe. Several days later, defendant informed Fleming of his plan to flee the state. Fleming relayed this information to law enforcement officers, and defendant was eventually apprehended.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Officer James Saunders and Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent David Martinez met with Shenitra Johnson (Johnson) on 11 January 1996. Johnson told them defendant arrived at her house shortly after 11:30 p.m. on 31 December 1995 and left between 12:30 and 1:00 a.m. She also stated that when defendant came over to Johnson’s residence, he had a .44-caliber gun, which he later sold. However, at trial Johnson testified that defendant arrived at her home around 10:30 p.m. and did not leave until sometime between 1:15 and 1:30 a.m. She further testified that she never saw defendant selling or trying to sell a handgun at her apartment.
Errol Moses was sentenced to death by the State of North Carolina for the murders of Ricky Nelson Griffin and Jacinto E. Dunkley. According to court documents Errol Moses would murder Jacinto Dunkley in 1995 and would murder Ricky Griffin in 1996, both of the murders were drug related. Errol Moses was arrested, convicted and sentenced to death.
Between 10:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. on 24 November 1995, Ronald Webb, Anthony Sheppard, and Ricky Griffin (Griffin) were at Crockett’s Barber Shop in Winston-Salem. As the three men were leaving the barber shop, defendant approached Griffin. They began arguing, and Griffin pulled a knife on defendant. After a brief skirmish, Griffin apologized, and they went their separate ways.
On 25 November 1995, around 2:30 a.m., Donald Brooks saw Griffin talking with defendant on a street corner near Griffin’s house. Griffin was a drug dealer who also stole property and sold it to make money. Griffin frequently dealt with defendant. During this encounter, Brooks testified that Griffin was attempting to sell a telephone to defendant. According to Brooks, defendant told Griffin he did not want the telephone, but he did want marijuana. Griffin told defendant he would return to his house and page Larry Cason to get some marijuana. Brooks then asked defendant to take him home, and the two men left in defendant’s Volkswagen automobile.
Soon thereafter, Griffin’s brother, Randolph Griffin, saw Griffin in the kitchen of their residence in Winston-Salem. Griffin told his brother he was trying to page defendant and Cason. Telephone records indicate that six calls were placed from the telephone at Griffin’s residence during the early morning hours of 25 November 1995 between 2:47 a.m. and 2:55 a.m., including two calls to defendant’s pager and four calls to Cason’s pager. According to Randolph Griffin, when he left to go upstairs to his bedroom, his brother was still in the kitchen. Thereafter, he heard three gunshots outside his house. When he ran outside to see what had happened, he found his brother lying in a pool of blood in front of the house. Randolph Griffin called 911, and law enforcement and emergency rescue personnel arrived within a few minutes. Griffin was transported to the hospital and pronounced dead shortly thereafter.
At the crime scene, law enforcement officers found a 9-mm shell casing on the ground approximately fifteen feet from the victim’s body. On 27 November 1995, Randolph Griffin was raking the front yard of his house when he found two additional 9-mm shell casings on the ground. He called law enforcement, who came and retrieved the shell casings.
According to Cason, on 25 November 1995, after receiving the second page from Griffin, he returned the call from a residence where he was playing cards. He told Griffin he did not have any marijuana to sell. Thereafter, Cason testified he left the card game and was driving home when he received the third page from Griffin. At that point, Cason pulled over and called Griffin from a pay telephone but received no answer. He then decided to go see what Griffin wanted. When he arrived at Griffin’s house, he saw Randolph Griffin holding his brother in the front yard. Each of the telephone calls placed to and from the Griffin residence was confirmed by telephone records.
Dr. Patrick Lantz, a Forsyth County medical examiner, performed an autopsy on Griffin’s body on 25 November 1995. Lantz determined Griffin died as a result of three gunshot wounds to the head: two wounds were about one inch apart in front of the victim’s right ear, and one wound was to the left side of his head. The two wounds on the right side of the face were surrounded by stippling, which is caused when gunpowder comes out of the barrel of a gun, strikes the skin’s surface, but does not completely burn. Because of the presence of stippling, Lantz determined these two shots were fired from a range of approximately two feet or less. The third wound, on the left side of the face, did not have stippling present. Therefore, Lantz could not determine the distance from which the shot was fired. Further, projectiles recovered from Griffin’s body were determined to be from a medium-caliber handgun, possibly a 9-mm handgun.
DUNKLEY MURDER
Sabrina Mims met defendant in December 1995, and they began dating shortly thereafter. That same month, defendant introduced Mims to Jacinto Dunkley. Defendant informed Mims that Dunkley was the person for whom defendant sold drugs. During the time they dated, Mims observed both a .380-caliber pistol and a 9-mm Ruger handgun in defendant’s possession. Sometime during the week prior to 27 January 1996, defendant attempted to get Mims’ cousin, Shatina Givens (Givens), to set up Dunkley by meeting him and finding out where he kept money and drugs in his house. Defendant offered to pay Givens to carry out the plan, but Givens refused.
On 26 January 1996, Mandy Wood, Dunkley’s girlfriend, was watching television at Dunkley’s house when defendant called. Dunkley answered the telephone. He and defendant began arguing about how Dunkley had been trying to get in touch with defendant, but defendant had been avoiding him. At one point, Dunkley got upset and hung up the telephone. Defendant called back, and this time Wood answered the telephone. She handed the telephone to Dunkley, and he and defendant began arguing again. The two ended the conversation by agreeing to meet the next night, 27 January 1996, at 9:00 p.m.
On 27 January 1996, defendant and Casey McCree were at Mims’ apartment in Winston-Salem, “drinking and partying” with a number of different people. According to McCree, it was an “all day event.” Telephone records indicate that at approximately 9:09 p.m., defendant received a page from Dunkley. Thereafter, between 9:30 p.m. and 10:00 p.m., defendant asked McCree to ride with him to Dunkley’s house. Defendant told McCree that Dunkley owed him money and that he was going to collect it. Defendant and McCree left the apartment in defendant’s Volkswagen and proceeded to Dunkley’s house. Defendant told McCree he was “going to go do something and if another person is there you’re going to have to go ahead and do her, too.”
On the way to Dunkley’s house, defendant stopped at the Enterprise Car Rental. While there, defendant stole a Buick automobile. McCree then drove the Volkswagen and defendant drove the stolen Buick to an undisclosed area, where they left defendant’s Volkswagen. They proceeded to Dunkley’s house, and when they arrived, defendant parked the stolen Buick just across and down the street from the house. Defendant and McCree approached the house, and McCree knocked on the door. Dunkley answered the door, and McCree shook his hand and walked in. Defendant pulled out his 9-mm Ruger and approached Dunkley, who backed into the kitchen. In a fierce tone, defendant began asking Dunkley where his money was located. When Dunkley asked what he was talking about, defendant shot him in the chest. Defendant asked again where his money was located, and then shot Dunkley in the head. While Dunkley lay dead on the kitchen floor, defendant asked McCree to help him ransack the house so it would look like a robbery. McCree saw defendant take a wad of money from a drawer in Dunkley’s house and a gold-colored diamond ring from Dunkley’s finger.
When defendant left Dunkley’s house, he took the keys to Dunkley’s Pontiac and asked McCree to drive it. McCree followed defendant, who was driving the stolen Buick, and they abandoned Dunkley’s automobile. Defendant and McCree drove the stolen Buick back to Enterprise Car Rental and parked it in the same space it was parked earlier. From there, defendant and McCree stopped briefly at Robyn Gardner’s apartment in Winston-Salem. Defendant lived in the apartment next door with his girlfriend Anesha. According to Gardner, she was not sure exactly what time it was when defendant and McCree arrived at her apartment, but it was dark outside. She testified that defendant asked her to hide a gun, later identified as the 9-mm Ruger used in both murders. Around 11:30 p.m., defendant and McCree returned to Mims’ apartment.
Later, defendant, McCree, and Givens left the apartment and were involved in an automobile accident. When Winston-Salem Police Officer John Tesh arrived on the scene, he found defendant, who had been driving the automobile, lying about twenty feet from the wreckage. Defendant complained that his right arm was hurt, and he tried to stuff a wad of money into his pants pocket. Tesh also observed a pager, a gold-colored diamond ring, a black leather jacket, and a torn tee shirt lying on the ground three to five feet from defendant. Additionally, Tesh discovered McCree lying near the car and Grenecia Givens’ body inside the car. Grenecia Givens was pronounced dead at the scene, and defendant and McCree were rushed to the hospital.
According to Wood, Dunkley’s girlfriend, Dunkley drove her to work at 6:00 p.m. on 27 January 1996 and was supposed to pick her up when she got off work at 2:00 a.m. the next morning. However, Dunkley never arrived, and she did not hear from him. On 30 January 1996, Wood went by Dunkley’s house, but no one answered the door. On 31 January 1996, Winston-Salem police officers responded to a possible break-in call at Dunkley’s house. When the police arrived, they discovered Dunkley’s body in the kitchen. The house was in disarray. A 9-mm shell casing was seized from the scene.
On 1 February 1996, Lantz, the same medical examiner who examined Griffin’s body, performed an autopsy of Dunkley’s body. According to Lantz, Dunkley died as a result of two gunshot wounds: one wound to the left side of the head, above and behind the left ear, and the other to the abdomen and right arm. The head wound was surrounded by stippling, indicating a shot was fired from approximately two feet or less. The wound to the abdomen was caused by a bullet which entered below the rib cage, exited above the right hip, and lodged in the right arm. The projectile recovered from Dunkley’s body was also determined to have been fired from a 9-mm handgun.
A few days after the murder, defendant was incarcerated in the Forsyth County jail on other charges. Defendant telephoned Anesha from jail and asked her to get the 9-mm Ruger from Gardner’s apartment and take it to Tony Duncan. According to Duncan, he spoke with defendant on the telephone, and they agreed that Duncan could buy the handgun. Thereafter, on approximately 1 April 1996, a Winston-Salem police detective seized the 9-mm Ruger from Duncan in the course of his investigation of the Dunkley murder.
Special Agent Thomas Trochum of the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) performed a ballistics test on the 9-mm Ruger and compared it with the evidence seized in both the Griffin and Dunkley murder cases. In the Griffin case, Trochum examined three cartridge cases which were recovered from the crime scene and a bullet fragment which was removed from Griffin’s head during the autopsy. After examining these items, he determined that each was fired by defendant’s 9-mm Ruger to the exclusion of all other handguns. In the Dunkley case, Trochum examined a cartridge case recovered from the crime scene and two bullet fragments taken from Dunkley’s body during the autopsy. Again, after inspecting these items, he determined that each was fired by defendant’s 9-mm Ruger to the exclusion of all other handguns.
The two murder charges were joined for trial, and the trial began in Forsyth County on 3 November 1997. On 14 November 1997, the jury found defendant guilty of one count of first-degree murder under the felony murder rule and a second count of first-degree murder under both premeditation and deliberation, and the felony murder rule. Thereafter, on 18 November 1997, the jury recommended death on both charges, and the trial court entered judgment accordingly. Defendant appeals to this Court as of right from the sentences of death.
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