State v. Williams ( 2016 )


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  •                IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF NORTH CAROLINA
    No. COA15-1052
    Filed: 19 April 2016
    Burke County, Nos. 14 CRS 1387, 52178
    STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA
    v.
    JAMES DAVID WILLIAMS
    Appeal by defendant from judgment entered 8 April 2015 by Judge Joseph N.
    Crosswhite in Burke County Superior Court. Heard in the Court of Appeals 22
    February 2016.
    Roy Cooper, Attorney General, by Erin O’Kane Scott, Assistant Attorney
    General, for the State.
    Franklin E. Wells, Jr. for defendant-appellant.
    DAVIS, Judge.
    James David Williams (“Defendant”) appeals from his conviction for
    unlawfully entering property operated as a domestic violence safe house or haven by
    a person subject to a protective order in violation of N.C. Gen. Stat. § 50B-4.1(g1). On
    appeal, he contends that the trial court erred in denying his motions to dismiss
    because there was no evidence presented at trial that he actually entered the
    domestic violence shelter at issue. After careful review, we conclude that Defendant
    received a fair trial free from error.
    STATE V. WILLIAMS
    Opinion of the Court
    Factual Background
    The State presented evidence at trial tending to establish the following facts:
    Defendant and Dawn Triplett (“Triplett”) were involved in a romantic relationship
    and lived together in Glen Alpine, North Carolina from December 2013 to July 2014.
    In April 2014, their relationship began to deteriorate, and on 7 July 2014 a physical
    altercation occurred during which Defendant pointed a pellet gun at Triplett, pushed
    her onto a bed, and “threatened to bust [her] head.” Defendant then forced Triplett
    to go outside and get into the driver’s seat of his car at which point he “put a
    cinderblock up against the driver’s side so [she] couldn’t get out.” When Triplett
    attempted to exit the car through the passenger-side door, Defendant grabbed her by
    the throat and verbally berated her. A neighbor who witnessed the altercation called
    the Glen Alpine Police Department, and officers responded to the scene. Triplett
    related to the officers the events that had transpired, and Defendant was placed
    under arrest for assault on a female.
    On 18 July 2014, Triplett moved into Options Domestic Violence Shelter
    (“Options”), a safe house for women who are victims of domestic violence and other
    violent crimes.   That same day, Triplett filed a petition for a domestic violence
    protective order (“DVPO”) in Burke County District Court. On 1 August 2014, the
    Honorable Clifton Smith issued a DVPO preventing Defendant from having any
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    STATE V. WILLIAMS
    Opinion of the Court
    contact with Triplett and further ordering Defendant to “stay away from [Triplett’s]
    residence or any place where [Triplett] receives temporary shelter.”
    At approximately 6:45 a.m. on 8 August 2014, Defendant drove to the address
    at which Options was located and parked his car in the parking lot. He exited his
    vehicle and walked to the front door of the Options building. Defendant attempted
    to open the door by pulling on the door handle only to discover that it was locked.
    Defendant then returned to his vehicle and left the premises.
    Defendant’s presence on the front porch and his attempt to open the door were
    captured by a surveillance camera that was being monitored at the time by Jessica
    Dolinger (“Dolinger”), an Options employee. After Defendant’s departure, Dolinger
    and other Options personnel discovered Defendant’s identity and contacted law
    enforcement officers. Defendant was arrested later that day.
    On 8 September 2014, Defendant was indicted on charges of (1) violating N.C.
    Gen. Stat. § 50B-4.1(g1); and (2) attaining the status of an habitual felon.      A
    superseding indictment on the habitual felon charge was issued on 5 January 2015.
    A jury trial was held before the Honorable Joseph N. Crosswhite in Burke County
    Superior Court beginning on 6 April 2015. Both at the conclusion of the State’s
    evidence and at the close of all the evidence, Defendant moved to dismiss the charge
    arising under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 50B-4.1(g1) based on insufficiency of the evidence.
    The trial court denied both motions.
    -3-
    STATE V. WILLIAMS
    Opinion of the Court
    The jury found Defendant guilty of violating N.C. Gen. Stat. § 50B-4.1(g1), and
    Defendant subsequently pled guilty to the habitual felon charge. The trial court
    consolidated Defendant’s convictions and sentenced him to 78-106 months
    imprisonment. Defendant gave oral notice of appeal in open court.
    Analysis
    On appeal, Defendant argues that the trial court erred in denying his motions
    to dismiss based on his contention that in order for him to have been lawfully
    convicted of violating N.C. Gen. Stat. § 50B-4.1(g1) the State was required to prove
    that he actually entered the Options building. The State, conversely, contends that
    a violation of the statute occurred as soon as Defendant set foot onto the real property
    upon which the shelter was situated.
    The trial court’s denial of a motion to dismiss is
    reviewed de novo on appeal. Upon defendant’s motion for
    dismissal, the question for the Court is whether there is
    substantial evidence (1) of each essential element of the
    offense charged, or of a lesser offense included therein, and
    (2) of defendant’s being the perpetrator of such offense. If
    so, the motion is properly denied.
    State v. Pressley, __ N.C. App. __, __, 
    762 S.E.2d 374
    , 376 (internal citations and
    quotation marks omitted), disc. review denied, 
    367 N.C. 829
    , 
    763 S.E.2d 382
    (2014).
    N.C. Gen. Stat. § 50B-4.1(g1) is contained within the North Carolina Domestic
    Violence Act (“the Domestic Violence Act”). See Comstock v. Comstock, __ N.C. App.
    __, __, 
    780 S.E.2d 183
    , 185 (2015) (“The issuance and renewal of DVPOs, the means
    -4-
    STATE V. WILLIAMS
    Opinion of the Court
    for enforcing them, and the penalties for their violation are governed by North
    Carolina’s Domestic Violence Act, which is codified in Chapter 50B of the North
    Carolina General Statutes.”). N.C. Gen. Stat. § 50B-4.1(g1) states, in pertinent part,
    as follows:
    Unless covered under some other provision of law
    providing greater punishment, any person who is subject
    to a valid protective order . . . who enters property operated
    as a safe house or haven for victims of domestic violence,
    where a person protected under the order is residing, shall
    be guilty of a Class H felony. A person violates this
    subsection regardless of whether the person protected
    under the order is present on the property.
    N.C. Gen. Stat. § 50B-4.1(g1) (2015) (emphasis added).
    The term “property” is not defined in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 50B-4.1. However, our
    Supreme Court has held that “[n]othing else appearing, the Legislature is presumed
    to have used the words of a statute to convey their natural and ordinary meaning. In
    the absence of a contextual definition, courts may look to dictionaries to determine
    the ordinary meaning of words within a statute.” State v. Abshire, 
    363 N.C. 322
    , 329,
    
    677 S.E.2d 444
    , 449 (2009) (citation and quotation marks omitted).
    Webster’s New World College Dictionary defines property, in pertinent part,
    as “the right to possess, use, and dispose of something; ownership [property in land] .
    . . a thing or things owned; possessions collectively; esp., land or real estate owned[.]”
    Webster’s New World College Dictionary 1150 (4th ed. 2010). Therefore, by its plain
    meaning the term “property” is not limited to buildings or other structures affixed to
    -5-
    STATE V. WILLIAMS
    Opinion of the Court
    land but also encompasses the land itself. Accordingly, upon Defendant’s entry onto
    the real property upon which the Options building is situated, he was in violation of
    N.C. Gen. Stat. § 50B-4.1(g1).1
    We further observe that the General Assembly’s use of the broad term
    “property” — as opposed to a more restrictive word such as “building” — in N.C. Gen.
    Stat. § 50B-4.1(g1) is consistent with the purposes underlying the Domestic Violence
    Act. As the Supreme Court has held, “[o]ur General Assembly enacted the Domestic
    Violence Act . . . to respond to the serious and invisible problem of domestic violence.”
    State v. Elder, 
    368 N.C. 70
    , 72, 
    773 S.E.2d 51
    , 53 (2015) (citation and quotation marks
    omitted). “In essence, [the Domestic Violence Act] requires the state to engage in
    prompt remedial action adverse to an individual’s property or liberty interests in
    order to further the legitimate state interest in immediately and effectively protecting
    victims of domestic violence.” Thomas v. Williams, __ N.C. App. __, __, 
    773 S.E.2d 900
    , 903-04 (2015) (citation, quotation marks, and brackets omitted). By preventing
    persons subject to a DVPO from entering not only the domestic violence shelter where
    the victim resides but also the real property on which the shelter is situated, the
    1 We note that N.C. Gen. Stat. § 50B-4.1(g1) does not contain a mens rea requirement.
    Therefore, Defendant’s act of entry onto the property in and of itself constituted a violation of the
    statute regardless of his motive for doing so.
    -6-
    STATE V. WILLIAMS
    Opinion of the Court
    General Assembly sought to maximize the protection afforded to victims of domestic
    violence from their abusers.2
    Finally, we reject Defendant’s argument that the rule of lenity requires a
    different result. “When construing an ambiguous criminal statute, we must apply
    the rule of lenity, which requires us to strictly construe the statute in favor of the
    defendant. However, this rule does not require that words be given their narrowest
    or most strained possible meaning. A criminal statute is still construed utilizing
    common sense and legislative intent.” In re N.T., 
    214 N.C. App. 136
    , 140, 
    715 S.E.2d 183
    , 185 (2011) (citation, quotation marks, and brackets omitted). See 
    Abshire, 363 N.C. at 332
    , 677 S.E.2d at 451 (“The rule of lenity requires that we strictly construe
    ambiguous criminal statutes. However, construing the word ‘address’ in terms of
    indicating defendant’s residence is not a liberal reading in favor of the State; rather,
    it is the only plausible reading that comports with the legislative purpose in enacting
    the registration program.” (internal citation omitted)).
    2  While not essential to our holding, we note that in a separate subsection of N.C. Gen. Stat. §
    50B-4.1, the General Assembly utilized the phrase “residence or household.” See N.C. Gen. Stat. §
    50B-4.1(b). Thus, by using the term “property” in subsection (g1) rather than repeating the phrase
    “residence or household,” the legislature demonstrated its awareness that the word “property”
    possessed a different meaning. See generally 
    Abshire, 363 N.C. at 332
    , 677 S.E.2d at 451 (reading
    statute at issue in pari materia with related statutes in order to determine definition of undefined
    statutory term); see also Comstock, __ N.C. App. at __, 780 S.E.2d at 186 (explaining that “statutory
    provisions concerning the same subject matter must be construed together and harmonized to give
    effect to each. Where . . . the General Assembly includes particular language in one section of a statute
    but omits it in another section of the same Act, it is generally presumed that the legislative body acts
    intentionally and purposely in the disparate inclusion or exclusion” (internal citations, quotation
    marks, and brackets omitted)).
    -7-
    STATE V. WILLIAMS
    Opinion of the Court
    As discussed above, adoption of the plain and ordinary meaning of the
    statutory term “property” in the present context mandates the conclusion that it
    encompasses both the Options building itself and the land upon which the building
    sits. We cannot agree with Defendant that the rule of lenity requires us to adopt an
    unduly narrow definition of the term that would lead to a contrary result.
    Defendant does not dispute that (1) he was subject to the DVPO previously
    obtained by Triplett; (2) Triplett resided at Options on 8 August 2014; and (3) he
    parked his car in the Options parking lot and then walked up to the front door of the
    shelter on that date. Having determined that his actions constituted an unlawful
    entry onto the property of Options within the meaning of N.C. Gen. Stat. § 50B-
    4.1(g1), we therefore conclude that the trial court properly denied Defendant’s
    motions to dismiss.3
    Conclusion
    For the reasons stated above, we conclude that the trial court did not err in
    denying Defendant’s motions to dismiss and that Defendant received a fair trial free
    from error.
    3  Defendant’s appellate brief also contains an argument that the trial court committed plain
    error by failing to instruct the jury on the lesser-included offense of misdemeanor violation of a DVPO.
    However, because Defendant conceded at oral argument that no legal support existed for this
    argument, we need not address this issue. See State v. Stroud, 
    147 N.C. App. 549
    , 564, 
    557 S.E.2d 544
    , 553 (2001) (“[Defendant] conceded at oral argument the case law did not support her argument,
    and she abandoned this argument. Therefore, we dismiss this assignment of error.”), cert. denied, 
    356 N.C. 623
    , 
    575 S.E.2d 758
    (2002).
    -8-
    STATE V. WILLIAMS
    Opinion of the Court
    NO ERROR.
    Chief Judge McGEE and Judge GEER concur.
    -9-
    

Document Info

Docket Number: 15-1052

Judges: Davis

Filed Date: 4/19/2016

Precedential Status: Precedential

Modified Date: 12/13/2024