Defendant was indicted and convicted of robbery with a dangerous weapon. The evidence presented at trial tended to show that during the early morning hours of 8 April 1991, the Charlotte Police Department received a call that two black males were chasing a white male in the area of Beatties Ford Road. When they arrived on the scene, officers observed defendant and another individual walking along the side of the road, at which time the officers
stopped to investigate the report. While questioning defendant and his companion,
At trial, Mr. Hаll was the only eyewitness who testified against defendant, and for this reason defendant in his first assignment of error has challenged the sufficiency of the evidence against him. At the appropriate stages during the trial, defendant made motions to dismiss, for a directed verdict and for entry of a judgment of not guilty. All were denied and defendant contends that the denial of these motions was improper because the evidence was “inadequate, cоntradictory, not credible and insufficient as a matter of law.” Although we agree that several inconsistencies exist in the State’s case, we do not believe that the trial court committed error in denying defendant’s motions rеgarding the sufficiency of the evidence.
“In testing the sufficiency of the evidence to sustain a conviction, a motion for dismissal pursuant to G.S. 15A-1227 is identical to a motion as in the case of nonsuit under G.S. 15-173.”
State v. Powell,
the trial court must view the evidence in the light most favorable to the State, giving the State the benefit of every reasonable inference to be drawn from it .... If there is substantial evidence — whether direct, circumstantial, or both — to support a finding that the offense charged has been committed and that the defendant committed it, the case is for the jury and the motion to dismiss should be denied.
State v. Small,
Defendant was indicted рursuant to N.C.G.S. 14-87 for robbery with a dangerous weapon. With the above-stated standard in mind,, we have undertaken an examination of the elements of robbery with a dangerous weapon to determine whether substantial evidence existed. The offense described in N.C.G.S. § 14-87(a) as robbery with a dangerous weapon is more commonly known as armed robbery.
See State v. Thomas,
The essence of defendant’s argument is that since there was no physical evidence of the аrmed robbery and since Mr. Hall repeatedly contradicted himself, it was impossible
Mr. Hall testified that on the night in question he was chased by two black men and that he hid in some bushes to escape. Mr. Hall further testified that the one with the gun ran past his hiding plaсe, but that the second man stopped and pulled him from the bushes. The man with the gun then returned and demanded all of Mr. Hall’s money while defendant searched Mr. Hall’s pockets. At trial Mr. Hall positively identified the defendant and his companion as the individuals who had robbed him. Mr. Hall also stated that he observed defendant and his companion after they robbed him until they were stopped by the police and gave an adequate description of defеndant to the police. Most important, however, was the fact that Mr. Hall immediately identified defendant to the arresting officers as the one who had robbed him.
Mr. Hall’s testimony was clearly adequate to present substantial evidence that defendant was the perpetrator of the crime charged. Although the amount is disputed, Mr. Hall’s testimony also provides substantial evidence that defendant took money from Mr. Hall. The use of a firearm does not appear to be in dispute as the police found a rifle in the possession of defendant’s companion and Mr. Hall testified that one of his pursuers had a gun and aimed it at him during the robbery. The fact that the gun was found in the possession of defendant’s companion does not alter our holding because all persons who aid or abet and are present at the scene of the crime are equally guilty.
State v. Dowd,
By his argument, defendant asks that we disregard the time-honored tradition of the jury to serve as the trier of fact and to determine the credibility of the witnesses. We place more faith in the ability of our jury system than defendant does. Admittedly there were inconsistencies in Mr. Hall’s testimony, but these are matters for the jury to consider. We hold that substantial evidence existed as to each element of the crime charged and that the trial court did not commit error in denying defendant’s motions.
In his second assignment of error, defendant addresses the propriety of the trial court’s decision to permit joinder of the trials against defendant and his companion. Joinder оf offenses and defendants is governed by N.C.G.S. § 15A-926 which provides in pertinent part:
Upon written motion of the prosecutor, charges against two or more defendants may be joined for trial:
a. When each of the defendants is charged with accountability for each offense; or
b. When, even if all of the defendants are not charged with accountability for each offense, the several offenses charged:
1. Were part of a common scheme or plan; or
2. Were part of the same act or transaction; or
3. Were so closely connected in time, place, and occasion that it would be difficult to separate proof of one charge from proof of the others.
N.C.G.S. § 15A-926(b)(2) (1988). Defendant was not charged with the firearm violation, so the decision to try defendant and his companion together was necessarily made under part (b) of the statute. The decision of whether to allow a motion to join two or more defendants for trial is directed to the sound discretion of the trial court and will not be disturbed on appeal
In his third assignment of error, defendant claims that the trial court erred in not allowing him to inquire into Mr. Hall’s ability to identify black people. As mentioned previously Mr. Hall had difficulty in identifying defendant at various stages of the trial process. As a result, defendant’s counsel attempted to inquire into Mr. Hall’s ability to identify black people and his familiarity with black people in general. In support of this line of questioning defendant claims that Mr. Hall had worked at a country club and lived in a predominately white section of town. Defendant asserts that this information was relevant to his defense because “it is obvious and a matter of common knowledge (and therefore worthy of judiciаl notice) that African Americans (“black” people) look different than persons of European descent (“white” people).” The prosecutor objected to this inquiry and the trial court sustained the objeсtion. We find no error in the trial court’s ruling.
Evidence is relevant if it has any tendency to make a fact of consequence more probable than it would be without the evidence. N.C.G.S. § 8C-1, Rule 401 (1992). Defendant’s argument about Mr. Hall’s ability to identify black people is based on nothing more than racial stereotypes which have no place in our.legal process. It is always proper to inquire into a victim’s ability to identify his attacker, but it is another matter entirely to inquire into a victim’s familiarity with members of another, race and his ability to identify members of another race. Such an inquiry has no tendency to prove a fact in issue and does nothing more than inject racial issues into the trial process. Although a trial court’s rulings on relevancy issues are not discretionary they are still afforded great deference on appeal.
State v. Wallace,
Defendant’s remaining assignment of error contends that even if we don’t find the individual assignments of error meritorious, then their totality was sufficiently prejudicial to defendant to warrant a new trial. We disagree. Having found defendant’s individual assignments of еrror to be without merit and since defendant has failed to offer any authority in support of his cumulative error approach, we will not address this issue further. We- hold that defendant received a fair trial free from prejudicial error.
No Error.