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Criminal Practice – Constitutional – Double Jeopardy — Sexual Assault & Kidnapping – Restraint –Expert Witness — Credibility
North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff//August 9, 2012//
Criminal Practice – Constitutional – Double Jeopardy — Sexual Assault & Kidnapping – Restraint –Expert Witness — Credibility
North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff//August 9, 2012//
State v. Martin (Lawyers Weekly No. 12-07-0821, 16 pp.) (Wanda G. Bryant, J.) Appealed from Carteret County Superior Court. (Benjamin G. Alford, J.) N.C. App. Full-text opinion.
Holding: Where defendant restrained the victim solely for the purpose of committing sexual assaults and strangulation, the restraint operated as an inherent part of the sexual offenses and the strangulation and cannot satisfy the restraint element of kidnapping.
We vacate defendant’s conviction of first-degree kidnapping. We find no error in defendant’s convictions of first-degree sexual offense and second-degree sexual offense.
Where defendant’s expert witness would have testified about the victim’s credibility and the manner in which the criminal investigation was conducted, his testimony would have invaded the province of the jury. The trial court specifically acknowledged that defendant could still argue the inconsistencies he observed in the state’s evidence. The trial court did not abuse its discretion by excluding the testimony of the defense expert.
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