State v. Cooper

1

STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA v. TYRON DALETAY COOPER

No. COA22-662

Court of Appeals of North Carolina

February 6, 2024

An unpublished opinion of the North Carolina Court of Appeals does not constitute controlling legal authority. Citation is disfavored but may be permitted in accordance with the provisions of Rule 30(e)(3) of the North Carolina Rules of Appellate Procedure.

Heard in the Court of Appeals 23 August 2023.

Appeal by Defendant from Judgment entered 17 September 2021 by Judge A. Graham Shirley in Wake County No. 17 CRS 219916 Superior Court.

Attorney General Joshua H. Stein, by Assistant Attorney General Caden William Hayes, for the State.

Kimberly P. Hoppin for Defendant-Appellant.

HAMPSON, Judge

Factual and Procedural Background

Tyron Daletay Cooper (Defendant) appeals from a Judgment entered 17 September 2021 upon his conviction of First-Degree Murder. The Record before us, including evidence presented at trial tends to show the following:

On the evening of 8 November 2016, officers with the Raleigh Police Department (RPD) responded to a call reporting gunshots at the Universal Cab Company on 432 Hill Street, Raleigh, North Carolina. At the scene, Deputies found Nwabu Cyril Efobi deceased from multiple gunshot wounds. Several nine-millimeter shell casings were collected at the scene. Surveillance footage from cameras operated by another business in the same strip mall showed Efobi struggling with a person offscreen who fled the area following the altercation. RPD identified this person as the suspect. The suspect appeared to be a black male with facial hair wearing dark-rimmed glasses, a dark hooded sweatshirt, and a ballcap under the sweatshirt. RPD also examined surveillance footage from the same cameras the previous day, 7 November 2016, which appeared to show the same suspect wearing the same clothing, walking around the vicinity of the Universal Cab Company, and using a cellphone.

On 2 December 2016, RPD Detective Mark Quagliarello applied for a court order for a "tower dump" for 7 and 8 November 2016 (the Tower Dump Order). The Tower Dump Order required cellular phone companies to produce a list of every phone number that connected to a specific cell tower in a given time frame. Tower dumps do not provide subscriber information associated with those phone numbers. On 19 April 2017, Detective Quagliarello applied for a "geofence" order for 7 and 8 November 2016 (the Geofence Order). The Geofence Order required Google to provide similar information for phone numbers that connected to Google services such as Google, Google Maps, and Gmail during a given time frame and geographic area.

Both applications were granted; however, the information produced did not generate any leads.

In September 2017, counsel for Stacy Dooley, an inmate in a federal penitentiary, contacted RPD and notified Detective Quagliarello that Dooley had information about the murder at the Universal Cab Company. In a subsequent conversation, Dooley told Detective Quagliarello he had become friends with Defendant when they were incarcerated at the same federal prison, and they had remained friends after Defendant was transferred and later released. Dooley reported Defendant had confessed to Dooley over the phone he had been involved in a robbery and murder of a cab driver in Raleigh. Dooley stated Defendant said he had used a nine-millimeter handgun-information which had not been made public. Dooley then provided RPD with Defendant's cellphone number.

Based on this information, Detective Quagliarello searched the RPD law enforcement database and determined Defendant had been living at a halfway house in Raleigh in November 2016. When RPD Deputies visited the halfway house, an employee showed them records indicating Defendant had signed out of the house reportedly to go to work during the relevant times on both 7 and 8 November 2016. Detective Quagliarello subsequently contacted Defendant's then-employer, Axcess Staffing. Axcess Staffing verified Defendant had been an employee in November 2016; however, their records indicated Defendant did not work for them on 7 or 8 November 2016. The Axcess Staffing manager provided RPD with Defendant's cellphone number, which matched the number Dooley had given Detective Quagliarello.

Detective Quagliarello began to investigate the phone number, first by searching the number on Facebook. The search returned a public Facebook page connected to the username "Tyron dot Cooper one." Detective Quagliarello also found a second Facebook page for "Tyron dot Cooper dot 712." Photographs posted on these Facebook pages in 2016 showed Defendant, a black man with facial hair, wearing a hooded sweatshirt appearing to match the one the suspect wore in the surveillance video.

Deputies then searched the data they had obtained pursuant to the December 2016 Tower Dump Order and confirmed Defendant's cellphone number connected to the cell tower for the Universal Cab Company during the relevant time frames on 7 and 8 November 2016. Detective Quagliarello applied for a court order for historical call detail records, historical location information, and subscriber information (CSLI) for Defendant's phone number (the CSLI Order). Mapping the phone number using this data revealed on the morning of 7 November 2016, the phone number connected to a cell site section and cell tower providing coverage for the halfway house where Defendant was living. The same phone number connected to a cell site sector and cell tower providing coverage for the Universal Cab Company the same evening at 5:58 p.m., 6:53 p.m., and 7:01 p.m.

Mapping the phone number for 8 November 2016 showed it connected to a cell site sector and tower providing coverage for the halfway house at 6:06 a.m. It also showed the same phone number used a cell site sector and tower providing coverage for the Universal Cab Company multiple times throughout the morning and again in the evening at 5:37 p.m., 5:39 p.m., 6:15 p.m., and 6:16 p.m.

Based on this information and Dooley's statements, Detective Quagliarello obtained an arrest warrant for Defendant. Defendant was arrested leaving his apartment in Durham, North Carolina early in the morning of 13 October 2017. When Defendant was arrested, Detective Quagliarello searched Defendant's bedroom pursuant to a search warrant. Evidence collected included a shirt that appeared similar to one worn in one of the Facebook photos and a black zip-up hooded sweatshirt with white draw strings resembling the one worn in the Facebook photos and the suspect's sweatshirt from the surveillance video. Additionally, in a suitcase in Defendant's bedroom, Deputies discovered a piece of paper with the name "Cyril Efobi"-the victim's name-written on it.

Prior to trial, Defendant filed a Motion to Suppress "fruits of cell tower dumps of location information & [an] invalid geofence 'warrant.'" Defendant argued law enforcement needed warrants for both the Tower Dump and the CSLI, and the Tower Dump and CSLI Orders RPD had obtained were insufficient. After a suppression hearing on 20 August 2021, the trial court denied Defendant's Motion, determining the Orders were the functional equivalent of warrants and were supported by probable cause.

Defendant's trial began 24 August 2021. At trial, Dooley testified for the State consistent with the initial statements he gave Detective Quagliarello. The State played recordings of phone calls between Dooley and Defendant for the jury. Additionally, the State asked Dooley, "[d]o you know what [Defendant was incarcerated] for?" Dooley answered before Defendant was able to object and stated, "I think he told me a handgun." Defendant then objected and the trial court sustained the objection. However, Defendant did not move to strike Dooley's response. Further, Dooley testified Defendant expressed his belief he had gained status as a result of committing the murder. Finally, Dooley stated appearing as a witness for the State was dangerous for him due to Defendant's alleged gang involvement.

Additionally, the halfway house supervisor, Dori Jones, also testified for the State. The State asked her to explain what a halfway house is, and Defendant objected. The jury left the courtroom so the trial court could hear arguments on this issue. Defendant contended the testimony explaining a halfway house would be prejudicial because it implies Defendant had been in prison, which was merely tangential to the State's case. The trial court overruled Defendant's objection but determined to give a limiting instruction to the jury. When the jury returned, the State resumed questioning and Jones explained a halfway house is "a community-based program where we contract with the government to house individuals coming from federal prison." The trial court then gave a limiting instruction, telling the jury it could only consider this testimony "for the purpose of determining opportunity and/or a plan."

Defendant presented no evidence. On 30 August 2021, the jury returned its verdict finding Defendant was guilty of first-degree murder. Defendant was sentenced to a term of life in prison without the possibility of parole. Defendant timely filed written Notice of Appeal on 13 September 2021.

Issues Presented

The issues are whether the trial court erred by: (I) denying Defendant's Motion to Suppress; and (II) admitting testimony reflecting Defendant's prior criminal conviction and alleged gang affiliation.

Analysis

I. Motion to Suppress

On appeal to this Court, Defendant first contends the trial court erred in denying his Motion to Suppress evidence related to the Tower Dump Order and CSLI Order. "Our review of a trial court's denial of a motion to suppress is strictly limited to a determination...