State v. SpruiellÂ, 252 N.C. App. 486

On 1 Nov 2005 Spruiell fired one shot through the rear passenger window of a parked SUV at close range, killing Ricardo Sanchez; Sanchez had been in a drug dispute with Spruiell.
Spruiell was indicted for first-degree murder, discharging a weapon into occupied property, and possession of a firearm by a felon; jury convicted him of first-degree felony murder (predicated on discharging a weapon into occupied property) and possession by a felon; discharge conviction was arrested at sentencing.
Appellate counsel did not challenge on direct appeal the trial court's felony-murder instruction based on discharging a weapon into occupied property; this Court affirmed on direct appeal in 2009.
Spruiell filed a Motion for Appropriate Relief (MAR) asserting ineffective assistance of appellate counsel for failing to argue that the predicate felony could not be discharging a weapon into occupied property when only a single shot was fired at a single victim.
The trial court granted the MAR, finding appellate counsel unreasonably failed to raise the issue and concluding there was a reasonable probability the direct appeal would have succeeded; the State appealed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether appellate counsel rendered ineffective assistance by not arguing that felony murder could not be predicated on discharging a weapon into occupied property when only one shot was fired at one victim	State: North Carolina precedent allows felony murder predicated on discharging a weapon into occupied property; no controlling authority barring application here	Spruiell: Under Jones and related reasoning, a single assault on one victim cannot serve as predicate felony (merger-like rule); therefore counsel should have raised the issue	Court: No prejudice shown — prevailing North Carolina precedent supported using discharging a weapon into occupied property as the predicate felony; reverse trial court's MAR grant

State v. Wall, 304 N.C. 609 (N.C. 1982) (Supreme Court declined to adopt California "merger doctrine" and upheld felony murder predicated on discharging firearm into occupied property)
State v. Jones, 353 N.C. 159 (N.C. 2000) (recognized limited rule that an assault on a single victim that causes that victim's death cannot serve as predicate felony)
State v. Carroll, 356 N.C. 526 (N.C. 2002) (applies Jones: where assault and death are distinct events, the underlying felony need not merge)
State v. King, 316 N.C. 78 (N.C. 1986) (reaffirming refusal to adopt merger doctrine to bar felony murder based on discharging a firearm into occupied property)
State v. Mash, 305 N.C. 285 (N.C. 1982) (declining to adopt merger doctrine for discharging firearm into occupied property)
State v. Jackson, 189 N.C. App. 747 (N.C. Ct. App. 2008) (upholding felony murder predicated on discharging a weapon into occupied property; noted Jones' limited rule applies only to single-victim assault situations)