State v. Brown

543 S.E.2d 552 (2001)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

Victim was living in D's home. The day before the killing, d and Victim argued over rent money. Two eyewitnesses, Jack Williams, and Kelly Williams, testified they saw D hit Victim on the head several times with a blunt tool, lacerating Victim's scalp. D was holding a gun in his other hand at the time. Victim was unarmed and simply tried to fend off the attack by covering his head. The next day, Victim returned to the house to retrieve his belongings. D's wife, Erlene, testified that when Victim arrived, he went into the kitchen and went down the hall to the bedroom to get Victim's things. She saw her husband in the hallway with a billy club behind his back and she said to him, 'Don't do anything, don't say anything. [Victim's] just come to get his clothes, you know, and he's leaving and I'm getting his clothes for him.' As Erlene came back she heard scuffling in the kitchen. D and Victim were fighting and D was hitting Victim with the billy club. Erlene tried unsuccessfully to separate them. She and her grandson, Billy, then fled the house. They heard two shots as they were getting in the car. Before driving off, Erlene saw D come out of the house with a gun in his hand. She testified, 'I was afraid he might shoot us, too.' D claimed Victim 'blindsided' him. D thought Victim was going to kill him and that he was fighting for his life. D found his gun on the kitchen floor where he claimed it had fallen from the top of the refrigerator. He shot Victim as Victim was charging into him. Victim continued attacking fighting over the gun and D shot again, killing Victim. During the trial Erlene testified as follows: During Erlene 's testimony, she was asked why she fled during the fight. She responded, 'I know the moods of my husband and I knew I had to get out.' The Solicitor asked what mood D was in that night and Mrs. Brown stated that he had become 'very angry and agitated.' The Solicitor then asked, 'What happens when he becomes angry and agitated?' Over D's objection, Erlene stated, 'He gets violent.' D was convicted of murder and sentenced to forty years.