State v Medley
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An unpublished opinion of the North Carolina Court of Appeals does not constitute controlling legal authority.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. NO. COA05-750 NORTH CAROLINA COURT OF APPEALS Filed: 21 February 2006 STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA v. Guilford County Nos. 03 CRS 780957; 03 CRS 70958 MICHAEL LAMONT MEDLEY Appeal by defendant from judgments entered 4 August 2004 by Judge Michael E. Helms in Guilford County Superior Court. Heard in the Court of Appeals 25 January 2006. Attorney General Roy Cooper, by Assistant Attorney General Jane Ammons Gilchrist, for the State. Walter L. Jones and Gary B. Goodman, for defendant-appellant. CALABRIA, Judge. Michael Lamont Medley ( defendant ) appeals from judgments entered on jury verdicts of guilty of two counts of trafficking in marijuana and one count of conspiracy to traffic in marijuana. We find no error. On the afternoon of 9 January 2003, Officer T.S. Kroh ( Kroh ), a vice and narcotics detective with the Greensboro Police Department ( Greensboro P.D. ), obtained a search warrant for a residence located at 320 West Vandalia Road in Greensboro, North Carolina ( the residence ) based on information received from a confidential, reliable informant ( the informant ). The informant -2provided information that drugs were being sold at the residence on the day of defendant s arrest. This same informant participated in two controlled purchases of marijuana from the residence in the two months preceding execution of the warrant. The Greensboro P.D. officers who executed the warrant on that evening were residence. officer, positioned at the front and back doors of the Officer Jeffrey Godfrey ( Godfrey ), a Greensboro P.D. testified at trial that he assisted positioned at the back door of the residence. Kroh and was Godfrey further testified that after hearing officers at the front door knock and announce Greensboro Police, Search Warrant three times, the officers forced entry into the residence. At that point, Godfrey observed a person, later identified as defendant, run downstairs and then to the back door. Defendant opened the back door, at which point Godfrey and another officer identified themselves, shined their flashlights at defendant, and requested that he get down. Defendant slammed the door and ran back inside the house. Godfrey subsequently entered the house and saw large blocks of marijuana on a table and chair, some of which had been cut into smaller units. Additionally, he found a duffle bag containing marijuana residue and coffee beans, a small block of marijuana in a kitchen drawer, and packaging materials on the counters. Officers eventually found defendant downstairs in the corner of a dark room that had been painted black. Officers searched defendant for weapons and took him upstairs. In addition to defendant, -3officers also found Jeffrey Carter ( Carter ) and Matthew Cogdell ( Cogdell ) in the residence. A Guilford County Grand Jury subsequently indicted defendant on two counts of trafficking in marijuana conspiracy to traffic in marijuana. and one count of This matter was tried in Guilford County Superior Court, and a jury found defendant guilty of all counts. The trial court consolidated both trafficking convictions and sentenced defendant to a minimum of 25 to a maximum of 30 months in the North Carolina Department of Correction with a $5000 fine for the trafficking convictions. On the conspiracy to traffic in marijuana conviction, the trial court also sentenced defendant to 25 to 30 months imprisonment, to run concurrently with the trafficking convictions. Defendant appeals. On appeal defendant initially argues that the trial court committed reversible error by denying defendant s pre[-]trial motion to compel the identity of the confidential informant who provided information to the state that defendant s arrest and conviction. was used to procur This Court has held, the state is privileged to withhold from a defendant the identity of a confidential informant, with certain exceptions. State Newkirk, 73 N.C. App. 83, 85, 325 S.E.2d 518, 520 (1985). v. An exception requiring disclosure exists where the informer directly participates in the alleged crime so as to make him a material witness on the issue of guilt or innocence. State v. Ketchie, 286 N.C. 387, 390, 211 S.E.2d 207, 209 (1975). ordinarily necessary, however, where the Disclosure is not informant does not -4participate in the offense or help arrange its commission. In such a case, the informant is a mere tipster who only supplies a lead to law enforcement officers. See State v. Grainger, 60 N.C. App. 188, 298 S.E.2d 203 (1982). In the case sub judice, the informant was not present at the time of the execution of the search warrant, and although he made a controlled purchase earlier in the day, none of defendant s charges were based on that purchase. Rather, the previous purchases by the informant were used solely to establish probable cause for the purpose of obtaining a search warrant. Accordingly, we hold that defendant has failed to make a sufficient showing that the circumstances of this case require the disclosure of the informant. See State v. Marshall, 94 N.C. App. 20, 31, 380 S.E.2d 360, 366-67 (1989) (citations omitted). Defendant next argues, the trial court committed reversible error by instructing the jury that it could consider defendant s alleged flight as evidence of guilt. In determining whether an instruction the on flight is warranted, relevant inquiry is whether there is evidence that defendant left the scene . . . and took steps to avoid apprehension. 165, 388 S.E.2d 429, 434 (1990). State v. Levan, 326 N.C. 155, Our Supreme Court has held, A trial court may not instruct a jury on defendant's flight unless there is some evidence in the record reasonably supporting the theory that defendant fled after commission of the crime charged. State v. Anthony, 354 N.C. 372, 425, 555 S.E.2d 557, 590 (2001). -5Based upon defendant s testimony, supporting an instruction on flight. there is evidence Defendant testified that he opened the rear door, slammed it, ran into a dark room, and hid under a glass table. While there is no evidence defendant actually left the scene, in this case a house surrounded by Greensboro P.D. officers at the exits, there was evidence from which a jury could find that defendant attempted to flee when he tried to escape through the back door and that he then fled from the police and took steps to avoid apprehension by hiding in the dark room under the table. On these facts, we hold that the evidence reasonably support[ed] the theory that defendant fled after commission of the crime charged, Anthony, supra, and took steps to avoid apprehension. Levan, supra. Accordingly, we hold that the trial court properly instructed the jury. Defendant s final argument on appeal addresses the issue of whether the trial court committed reversible error by refusing defendant s request to charge the jury pursuant to pattern[] jury instruction 104.15 that it could consider the criminal conduct of a third party as evidence of the third party[ s] exclusive possession of the marijuana for which defendant was convicted. On appeal, entirety. this Court reviews jury instructions must their Estate of Hendrickson v. Genesis Health Venture, 151 N.C. App. 139, 150-51, 565 S.E.2d 254, 262 (2002). party in show not only that error occurred The appealing in the jury instructions but also that such error was likely, in light of the entire charge, to mislead the jury. Id. Moreover, our Supreme -6Court has held, the trial court is not required to give the exact instructions requested by a defendant. Instead, requested instructions need only be given in substance if correct in law and supported by the evidence. State v. Morgan, 359 N.C. 131, 169, 604 S.E.2d 886, 909 (2004) (citations omitted). Defendant cites to State v. Cotton, 318 N.C. 663, 351 S.E.2d 277 (1987), and related cases in support of his argument that N.C. R. Evid. 404(b) (2005) can be used by the defendant to introduce similar crimes of another. Defendant s argument continues that because Rule 404(b) can be used in this manner, the trial court should have given pattern jury instruction 104.15, which relates to Rule 404(b). See N.C.P.I.--Crim. 104.15 (1984). While we agree that Rule 404(b) can be used by any party, the trial court properly determined that the pattern jury instruction on these facts is inapplicable. The pattern jury instruction is a limiting instruction used when evidence of other crimes, wrongs, or acts has been introduced for a reason other than to prove that a person acted in conformity therewith. Rule 404(b). N.C.P.I.--Crim. 104.15. See also Defendant would have the trial court instruct the jury it could consider the criminal conduct of a third party as evidence of the third party s exclusive possession marijuana for which defendant was convicted. of the This is not the purpose of the pattern jury instruction; rather, the instruction explains to juries that they can use the other crimes or bad acts evidence for a purpose other than showing that a person acted in conformity therewith. See N.C.P.I.--Crim. 104.15. Moreover, -7defendant s requested instruction was tantamount to a request for a special instruction. According to State v. McNeil, 346 N.C. 233, 239-40, 485 S.E.2d 284, 288 (1997) (citations omitted), requests for special instructions should be in writing. For the foregoing reasons, the trial court did not err in failing to give the requested instruction. No error. Judges BRYANT and JOHN concur. Report per Rule 30(e).
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