Criminal Practice – Jury & Jurors – Venire – African-American Representation – Armed Robbery – Acting in Concert – Identification

State v. Jackson (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-07-0933, 16 pp.) (Cressie H. Thigpen Jr., J.) Appealed from Orange County Superior Court. (Carl R. Fox, J.) N.C. App. Click here for the full-text opinion.

Holding: Defense counsel asserted that the number of African-Americans (three) in the 60-person jury venire underrepresented the county’s African-American population. Neither counsel’s assertion nor the numbers at issue were sufficient to require the trial court to discharge the jury venire based on underrepresentation of the county’s African-American population.

We find no error in defendants’ conviction of robbery with a dangerous weapon.

Where there was evidence that defendant Antonio Jackson took the victim’s iPhone and began walking, then running away from the victim, while pretending to make a phone call, Antonio was not merely present at the scene. Although the record does not reveal whether Antonio shared the intent or purpose to rob the victim with a dangerous weapon, this is not a necessary element under the theory of acting in concert. The question of whether Antonio acted in concert with defendant Rodrico Jackson was appropriately a question for the jury. The trial court did not err by denying Antonio’s motion to dismiss.

Even though the victim was not 100 percent certain that Rodrico was the second man involved in the robbery, Katina Jeffries corroborated the victim’s testimony that Rodrico was, in fact, a perpetrator. Jeffries testified that she drove Rodrico and Antonio to the victim’s apartment complex in a burgundy Chrysler, and the victim testified he saw a burgundy sedan in the apartment complex’s parking lot during the robbery. The combined testimony of Jeffries and the victim was sufficient evidence to go to the jury on the question of whether Rodrico was a perpetrator of the offense. The trial court did not err in denying Rodrico’s motion to dismiss.