State v. Laney
State v. Laney
Opinion of the Court
Following the return of the verdicts by the jury, defendant apparently moved to have them set aside as being contrary to the weight of the evidence. The denial of his motion forms the basis of the first assignment of error. While defendant does not support this assignment of error with any argument, we.give it full consideration due to the gravity of the offenses.
A motion to set aside the verdict as being contrary to the weight of the evidence is addressed to the sound discretion of the trial judge, and in the absence of abuse of discretion it is not reviewable on appeal. State v. Britt, 285 N.C. 256, 204 S.E. 2d 817 (1974).
In brief summary, the evidence for the State tends to show the following facts. Mrs. Lucille D. Gault testified that she was sixty-four years of age, five feet and three inches in height, and one hundred and ten pounds in weight. She was a school teacher, and in 1962 defendant was in her homeroom. On 29 July 1974, defendant entered her home without knocking and offered her a drink of bourbon. She refused and continued with her household chores. Defendant was intoxicated at the time, and after some thirty minutes he asked Mrs. Gault to take him to Jim Mason’s place. Being terrified and thinking that it would be a good way to get rid of him, Mrs. Gault drove defendant to
Defendant testified, denying that he kidnapped Mrs. Gault and claiming that she volunteered to go with him and voluntarily took off her clothes.
No abuse of discretion has been shown in the court’s denial of defendant’s motion to set aside the verdicts. In addition, pursuant to G.S. 15-173.1, we have reviewed the sufficiency of the evidence to sustain the verdicts. When viewed in the light most favorable to the State, the evidence was sufficient to go to the jury and sustain the verdicts against defendant.
Defendant’s remaining two assignments of error challenge the court’s charge to the jury regarding the willingness of Mrs. Gault to get into the car and the court’s final mandate on kidnapping. Neither of these contain merit. The charge presents the law fairly and clearly to the jury and accurately applies the law to the facts of the case.
In the trial we find no prejudicial error.
No error.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.