State v. Mann

345 S.E.2d 365 (1986)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

Penelope lived with Lockamy in a trailer park. In September 1983, while visiting Lockamy's sister, Penelope and Lockamy met D. Penelope and Lockamy would, about two to three times a week, help D with his sawmill, straighten up his yard and clean his house. D told Lockamy that he knew Lockamy had a criminal record and that Lockamy and Penelope needed money. Penelope testified that D told them that he knew an elderly man in Snow Camp who carried large sums of money in his bib overalls and that 'he would be an easy man to rob. It would take two men to rob the man. The best thing to do would be to go to a shed and wait for him to come home and after he got out of his truck, rob him from there.' Lockamy told D he would think about it. Penelope testified that thereafter the subject came up three or four times a week. d would ask Lockamy if he had thought about it, and Lockamy would respond that he had, but that 'he hadn't done anything about it. D kept telling him that if he didn't do it himself, . . . that he would find somebody else to do it or he would do it.' About a week later, D picked up Lockamy at his trailer one morning in order to show him where the intended victim, Richard Braxton, lived. D knew Keith Barts. About a week later, Barts, who managed the trailer park, told Penelope and Lockamy that he had known D for several years and that D 'had set him up on three jobs,' and he told Penelope and Lockamy 'of the jobs he pulled off.' Barts also said, 'that the set-up, the job in the country sounded like a good lick.' Then, one Monday night approximately two weeks before Braxton was killed, Lockamy, Barts, and John David 'Fireball' Holmes rode to Braxton's home planning to rob the old man. Their plan was thwarted when they saw Braxton's son or grandson was with him. On 20 November 1983, Barts arrived at Penelope's trailer. He told Lockamy, 'I did that job last night. . . . The job in the country, but I think I killed the man.' Barts went on to say that he had gone to the old man's house, hidden in the shed and waited for him to come home. When the old man arrived home, Barts jumped him and began beating him. Barts said, 'I beat the old . . . until I got plumb tired of beating him. . . . I beat him until he quit moving. The whole time the old man screamed, 'Oh, God, you're gonna kill me.'' Barts said that the old man was strong and that when he 'bucked' on him and hit Barts in the back with something, Barts got mad. Barts then said that the only way to know if he had actually killed the man would be to read about it in the newspaper. Lockamy was given immunity and substantially corroborated Penelope's testimony, saying that D had told him he probably could tie Braxton up with a rope and wouldn't have to use any weapons to get the money. D also told Lockamy what he considered to be 'the best way to do the job.' After the robbery and killing of Braxton, Barts told Lockamy that he had broken into Braxton's house 'and messed it up quite a bit' and that he had also broken into the tool shed. Barts admitted he'd beat Braxton with a hammer and 'some type of tool.' 'Fireball' Holmes drove Earl and Keith Barts to Braxton's house. That Earl had Holmes' .25-caliber automatic pistol and a rubber hubcap hammer. Holmes drove the car to a bridge some distance away and waited. About thirty minutes later, Holmes drove into Braxton's driveway and encountered Earl, who was carrying the baseball bat, a .22-caliber revolver which they had found in Braxton's house, and some brass knuckles. Braxton had not yet come home, so Holmes returned in the car to the bridge. About one and a half to two hours later, Keith and Earl came barreling down the road in Braxton's pickup truck. Keith said they had had to beat the old man. After arriving at Earl's trailer, the three men split up the money, each taking approximately $1,000. D took the stand at trial and denied ever having asked either Penelope Dawkins or Richard Lockamy to rob Braxton. He said that he had known Richard Braxton all his life, that Braxton was his friend, and that Braxton's name had been mentioned in conversations with Lockamy and Penelope only because the couple desperately needed money and Lockamy had asked D's sister about the possibility of his doing some painting for Mr. Braxton. The jury returned verdicts of guilty of soliciting Richard Lockamy to commit common law robbery of Richard Braxton, not guilty of solicitation of Penelope Dawkins to commit common law robbery, not guilty of conspiracy to commit robbery with a dangerous weapon, and not guilty of feloniously conspiring with Richard Lockamy to commit robbery with a dangerous weapon or common law robbery of Richard Braxton. D was sentenced to imprisonment for seven years. D appealed to the Court of Appeals, which found no error in D's trial but remanded the case for resentencing of D as a misdemeanant. North Carolina (P) appealed.