State v. Ingram, COA14–406.

767 S.E.2d 704 (Table)

STATE of North Carolina

v.Robert Teon INGRAM.

No. COA14–406.

Court of Appeals of North Carolina.

Dec. 2, 2014.

Attorney General Roy Cooper, by Assistant Attorney General Jess D. Mekeel, for the State.

The Law Office of Bruce T. Cunningham, Jr., by Bruce T. Cunningham, Jr., for Defendant.

ERVIN, Judge.

Defendant Robert Teon Ingram appeals from judgments entered based upon his convictions for first degree murder and possession of a firearm by a felon. On appeal, Defendant argues that his trial counsel's admission during the charge conference that he did not know of any legal basis for the delivery of a jury instruction concerning the law of self-defense deprived him of constitutionally adequate representation, that the trial court erred by failing to instruct the jury concerning the issue of Defendant's guilt of the lesser included offenses of voluntary and involuntary manslaughter, that the trial court erred by failing to instruct the jury concerning the law of self-defense, that the use of discharging a firearm into occupied property as the predicate felony underlying Defendant's conviction for first degree murder on the basis of the felony murder rule violated Defendant's right not to be put in jeopardy twice for the same offense, and that a sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole is grossly disproportionate given the facts of this case, including the fact that Defendant's conviction rests solely on the felony murder rule with shooting into occupied property as the predicate felony. After careful consideration of Defendant's challenges to the trial court's judgments in light of the record and the applicable law, we conclude that the trial court's judgments should remain undisturbed.

I. Factual Background

A. Substantive Facts

1. State's Evidence

At approximately 2:00 a.m. on 18 February 2011, an automobile was parked in front of the main entrance to the Player's Club, an adult entertainment establishment located in Greensboro. After Defendant and his sister emerged from the car, they entered the Player's Club after being patted down by a security guard. Although Defendant briefly went into the interior of the Player's Club, he subsequently returned to the lobby area, where Keisha Hicks was working the front desk. At that point, Defendant began leaning over the counter, an action that made Ms. Hicks uncomfortable given that she was handling money that had been received from other patrons when they entered the Club.

In light of her lack of comfort with Defendant's conduct, Ms. Hicks asked Defendant to step back from the counter. Although Defendant initially complied with Ms. Hicks' request, he began leaning over the counter again a few minutes later. At that point, Antonio King, a security guard at the Player's Club, approached Defendant and asked him not to stand in the vicinity of the cash register. In response, Defendant became frustrated and asked Mr. King, “do you know who I am? I'll do this to you. I'll shoot you.”

After Defendant made this remark, Mr. King attempted to escort Defendant through the lobby into the interior of the Player's Club. As this occurred, Defendant walked so close to Mr. King that his mouth was touching Mr. King's face as he talked. As a result, Mr. King pushed Defendant away and punched him in the face, causing Defendant to fall to the ground. Desney Dildy, an entertainer at the Player's Club, observed the altercation between Defendant and Mr. King and testified that Defendant attempted to strike Mr. King before Mr. King hit Defendant. At that point, Defendant was helped up off the floor and escorted outside of the Player's Club by another security guard.

Nina McGregor, the manager of the Player's Club, went outside of the building to help deal with the altercation. As she did so, Ms. McGregor encountered Defendant, whom she had known as a business acquaintance prior to the night in question. At that point, Defendant was very upset and had a knot on his head and blood around his nose and mouth. Anthony Jenkins, a security guard who was working at the front entrance of the Player's Club, heard Defendant ask his sister where his gun was located and heard Defendant's sister repeatedly stating that Defendant “should shoot all of them.”

After sitting in his vehicle for some period of time, Defendant exited his automobile, walked to the front door of the Player's Club while carrying a firearm, and fired two shots into the door of the Player's Club building from a distance of about three feet. Mr. Jenkins testified that, before firing the two shots, Defendant struck the front door, which had been locked from the interior to prevent him from entering.

A few seconds after the two shots were fired, Winfred Hunt, a security guard at the club, stated “I've been hit” and collapsed near the VIP room. Mr. Hunt died as a result of a gunshot wound to the left abdomen. After shooting into the Player's Club building door, Defendant got into his car with his sister and left the scene.

After reviewing the club's surveillance videos, Ms. McGregor “knew it was [Defendant].” On the following day, Ms. McGregor spoke to Defendant by phone and told him that he had gotten into an altercation with a security guard, that she had never seen him act in that manner before, and that “he shot back at the door twice and [ ] killed my security guard.” Upon arriving at the Player's Club at approximately 3:15 a.m., Detective T.E. Vaughn of the Greensboro Police Department noticed two bullet holes in the front door of the building and spoke with Ms. McGregor, who identified Defendant as the individual who had shot Mr. Hunt.

2. Defendant's Evidence

Defendant testified that he and his sister went to the Player's Club on 18 February 2011 for the purpose of passing out flyers that promoted his business. Prior to arriving at the Player's Club, the two of them had been to two bars in downtown Greensboro, at which Defendant had had several drinks. After parking at the front of the Player's Club and going inside, Defendant returned to his vehicle in order to use his phone. Upon returning to the interior of the Player's Club, Defendant was standing near the register when Ms. Hicks asked him to back away. At that point, a security guard approached him and acted in such a manner as to cause Defendant to request to speak with Ms. McGregor.

As Defendant was following the security guard to the manager's office, which was located in the interior of the Player's Club building, the security guard turned and punched Defendant several times in the face, causing him to fall to the ground. At that point, other security guards hit and kicked Defendant while he was on the floor before throwing him out into the foyer area and “rough[ing him] up some more in front of the front door.” Patrick Wall, a patron of the Player's Club, was smoking a blunt in his car when he saw security guards bring Defendant out of the club building and beat him up.

As a result of the fact that Defendant was “in a daze” and “had a bunch of head injuries,” he almost walked out into the middle of the street as he attempted to reach his car. Although Defendant told Ms. McGregor that he wanted to talk to the police, she asked him not to do that because the Player's Club was already under investigation. After a security guard helped him find his car, Defendant sat in his car until he heard his sister asking the security guards why they were going to get their guns. At that point, Defendant saw several security guards with weapons in their hands.

As he was looking through his car for his phone, Defendant “came across” a handgun, grabbed it, and got out of the car. Defendant stated that he picked up the handgun in order to protect his sister and that he did not simply leave the area because he was unable to find his car keys. As he was standing at the rear of his vehicle a few feet from the front door of the Player's Club, a security guard approached Defendant and fired at him using a handgun from a distance of six to eight feet.

The shot or shots fired by the security guard missed Defendant, who pulled his handgun from his pocket and fired at the security guard “out of instinct.” Defendant stated that he was not facing the building when he discharged his weapon and denied having fired his gun into the Player's Club door. Mr. Wall testified that, although he saw a security guard armed with a handgun and heard two gunshots, he did not see who fired them. After firing these shots, Defendant found his car keys in his pocket, entered his vehicle, left the scene, and threw his gun out of the window on the way home.

At about the time that investigating officers arrived at the Player's Club, Torrey Mays, a club patron, was exiting the club building through a side door. As he left the building, Mr. Mays saw two men, both of whom were wearing security uniforms, transfer a gun between themselves.

B. Procedural History

On 18 February 2011, a warrant for arrest was issued charging Defendant with first degree murder. On 7 March 2011, the Guilford County grand jury returned bills of indictment charging Defendant with first degree murder, discharging a firearm into occupied property, and possession of a firearm by a felon. The charges against Defendant came on for trial before the trial court and a jury at the 26 August 2013 criminal session of the Guilford County Superior Court. On 30 August 2013, the jury returned a verdict convicting Defendant of first degree murder on the basis of the felony murder rule with discharging a firearm into occupied property as the predicate felony, discharging a firearm into occupied property, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. At the conclusion of the ensuing sentencing hearing, the trial court arrested judgment in the case in which Defendant had been convicted of discharging a firearm into occupied property and entered judgments sentencing Defendant to a term of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole...