Opinion
No. 7510SC560
Filed 19 November 1975
APPEAL by defendant from Brewer, Judge. Judgment entered 11 April 1975 in Superior Court, WAKE County. Heard in the Court of Appeals 17 October 1975.
Attorney General Edmisten, by Assistant Attorney General Robert P. Gruber, for the State.
Joyner Howison, by Edward S. Finley, Jr., for defendant appellant.
By indictment proper in form, defendant was charged with the armed robbery of Mark Bradford, operator of a Kwik-Pik Store at 430 Buck Jones Road in the City of Raleigh. Defendant pled not guilty.
Evidence presented by the State, briefly summarized, tended to show: On 13 March 1975 at approximately 9:50 p.m., Bradford was working alone at the Kwik-Pik Store where he was employed. Two men with ski masks over their faces, one armed with a sawed-off shotgun and the other with a handgun, entered the store and proceeded to rob Bradford. At the direction of the man armed with the shotgun, Bradford placed money from the cash register and the safe into a heavy canvas bag, after which he was escorted to the restroom. While the robbery was in progress, Officer Branch of the Raleigh Police Department approached the store and parked some 75 feet from the front. He observed someone duck down behind a counter and proceed to the rear of the store; he also observed a man wearing what appeared to be a gold colored sweater and `dark trousers follow Bradford to the rear of the store. Branch called for assistance in response to which Officer Kramer proceeded to the area back of the store where he saw two men emerge single file from the rear of the building. The first person out was wearing dark clothing and the second one out was wearing dark pants and a "goldish-mustard" shirt. Just outside the rear of the store, the second subject slipped and fell, discharging his weapon in the process. Kramer fired at the first subject but he escaped. Kramer kept the fallen man covered and found a shotgun approximately 15 inches from him; removal of the ski mask revealed the person to be defendant who had two 12-gauge shotgun shells in his pocket and a straight razor in a bag he was carrying.
Defendant offered no evidence.
The jury found defendant guilty of armed robbery and from judgment imposing prison sentence of not less than 20 nor more than 30 years, he appealed.
While defendant's court appointed counsel assigns numerous errors, we find no merit in any of them and no useful purpose would be served in discussing the various assignments. Suffice it to say, we have carefully reviewed the record, with particular reference to the questions argued in the briefs, and conclude that defendant received a fair trial, free from prejudicial error, and the sentence imposed is within the limits allowed by statute.
No error.
Judges PARKER and CLARK concur.