Criminal Practice – Murder – Evidence – Facebook Messages – Felony Murder

The state presented evidence of a Facebook message showing hostility between defendant and the victim over defendant’s interactions with the victim’s girlfriend and that (1) on the same night as the Facebook message, an armed man came to the victim’s home at 2:30 am, using language similar to that used in the Facebook message; (2) defendant was near the scene of the crime shortly after the victim was shot; (3) defendant’s wallet was found near the victim’s residence; (4) defendant’s compatriot Twasjay Brown’s cell phone was found near the crime scene; (5) two weapons were fired during the confrontation, and one bullet entered the victim’s house, killing him. Regardless of whether defendant or Brown fired the fatal shot, defendant could still be found guilty of felony murder.

The trial court did not err in denying defendant’s motion to dismiss.

State v. Gray (Lawyers Weekly No. 011-290-18, 9 pp.) (Philip Berger, J.) Appealed from Bladen County Superior Court (Douglas Sasser, J.) Kenneth Sack for the state; Ann Petersen for defendant. N.C. App.