State v. McEachern

HUSKINS, Justice,

dissenting.

I respectfully dissent from the majority view that the trial judge expressed an opinion prejudicial to defendant when he asked the prosecuting witness the following question: “Let me ask you a question of clarification before you go any further, you were in the car when you were raped? A. Yes, sir.” It is obvious to me that the judge’s question, as phrased, simply meant: “Are you saying you were in the car when you were raped?” In my judgment the jury so understood it. The trial judge was merely clarifying the testimony of the prosecutrix in regard to the place where the intercourse, whether by consent or by force, took place.

This interpretation is strengthened by the fact that defendant himself later testified that he had sexual relations with the prosecutrix with her consent and at her suggestion, thus admitting the act but denying the use of force to accomplish it. He also denied robbing or beating her and, seeking to explain her multiple facial and body bruises, said she fell several times due to her drunken condition while walking back to Mary Blue’s house. Thus, on the rape charge, the only question really controverted before the jury was the question of force. The bruises, wounds and lacerations found on this woman’s face and body by Doctor Rocha when he examined her strongly support the victim’s testimony that she was beaten into unconsciousness and was being sexually assaulted when she awakened. Profuse vaginal bleeding, which no one denies, is further evidence of *70 force. In light of the undisputed physical facts, it is quite understandable that the jury did not accept defendant’s version.

State v. Oakley, 210 N.C. 206 , 186 S.E. 244 (1936), relied upon by the majority, is factually distinguishable. There, defendant was charged with burglary. In order to establish the identity of the burglar the State relied upon testimony that tracks at the scene of the crime were followed in newly fallen snow to the room of defendant where he was apprehended. While an officer was testifying regarding the tracks, the court asked the witness: “You tracked the defendant to whose house?” Defendant was awarded a new trial on the ground that the court inadvertently expressed an opinion that the State had proven the tracks to be those of the defendant. It is most significant that the defendant Oakley denied that he was at the burglarized home, said he went to his own sleeping quarters about 11 p.m. and had been in bed about four hours when the officer came and woke him up. Thus, the court’s question assumes a special significance on the question of identity.

Here, defendant admits he was with Mrs. Sanderson, admits he had sexual relations with her, and admits that while they were in the act she began bleeding profusely. He simply denies the use of force, denies that he took her rings and watch, and denies that he beat her — notwithstanding all the physical evidence to the contrary. State v. Oakley, supra, does not fit these facts. Rather, I think State v. Cureton, 215 N.C. 778 , 3 S.E. 2d 343 (1939), cited by the majority, should control.

The evidence in this case depicts a horrible assault by a nineteen-year-old black man on a fifty-year-old white woman. On contradictory evidence the jury convicted defendant of rape and common law robbery. It has been said that a defendant is “entitled to a fair trial but not a perfect one.” Lutwak v. United States, 344 U.S. 604 , 97 L.Ed. 593 , 73 S.Ct. 481 (1953). In my view defendant’s trial, although not perfect, was fair and free from prejudicial error. I vote to uphold the results of that trial.

Justice Lake joins in this dissenting opinion.