{ "id": 4774741, "name": "STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA v. ROBERT LEE WEST", "name_abbreviation": "State v. West", "decision_date": "1986-07-02", "docket_number": "No. 213A85", "first_page": "219", "last_page": "230", "citations": [ { "type": "official", "cite": "317 N.C. 219" } ], "court": { "name_abbreviation": "N.C.", "id": 9292, "name": "Supreme Court of North Carolina" }, "jurisdiction": { "id": 5, "name_long": "North Carolina", "name": "N.C." }, "cites_to": [ { "cite": "196 S.E. 2d 725", "category": "reporters:state_regional", "reporter": "S.E.2d", "year": 1973, "pin_cites": [ { "parenthetical": "defendant properly cross-examined about possession of, familiarity with, and interest in pornographic magazines" } ], "opinion_index": 0 }, { "cite": "283 N.C. 541", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "N.C.", "case_ids": [ 8559349 ], "year": 1973, "pin_cites": [ { "parenthetical": "defendant properly cross-examined about possession of, familiarity with, and interest in pornographic magazines" } ], "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/nc/283/0541-01" ] }, { "cite": "311 S.E. 2d 266", "category": "reporters:state_regional", "reporter": "S.E.2d", "year": 1984, "pin_cites": [ { "parenthetical": "defendant admitted on cross that he had watched pornographic movies depicting acts of sexually deviant behavior" } ], "opinion_index": 0 }, { "cite": "310 N.C. 157", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "N.C.", "case_ids": [ 2400836 ], "year": 1984, "pin_cites": [ { "parenthetical": "defendant admitted on cross that he had watched pornographic movies depicting acts of sexually deviant behavior" } ], "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/nc/310/0157-01" ] }, { "cite": "285 S.E. 2d 813", "category": "reporters:state_regional", "reporter": "S.E.2d", "year": 1982, "pin_cites": [ { "parenthetical": "former supervisor's testimony that defendant had admitted to committing fellatio with a prostitute held inadmissible because not relevant to offense in case at bar" } ], "opinion_index": 0 }, { "cite": "304 N.C. 643", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "N.C.", "case_ids": [ 8570316 ], "year": 1982, "pin_cites": [ { "parenthetical": "former supervisor's testimony that defendant had admitted to committing fellatio with a prostitute held inadmissible because not relevant to offense in case at bar" } ], "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/nc/304/0643-01" ] }, { "cite": "286 S.E. 2d 535", "category": "reporters:state_regional", "reporter": "S.E.2d", "year": 1982, "pin_cites": [ { "page": "539" } ], "opinion_index": 0 }, { "cite": "305 N.C. 106", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "N.C.", "case_ids": [ 8566171 ], "year": 1982, "pin_cites": [ { "page": "112" } ], "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/nc/305/0106-01" ] }, { "cite": "290 S.E. 2d 574", "category": "reporters:state_regional", "reporter": "S.E.2d", "year": 1982, "pin_cites": [ { "page": "585" } ], "opinion_index": 0 }, { "cite": "305 N.C. 400", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "N.C.", "case_ids": [ 8570930 ], "year": 1982, "pin_cites": [ { "page": "418" } ], "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/nc/305/0400-01" ] }, { "cite": "184 S.E. 2d 249", "category": "reporters:state_regional", "reporter": "S.E.2d", "weight": 2, "year": 1971, "opinion_index": 0 }, { "cite": "279 N.C. 566", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "N.C.", "case_ids": [ 8571190 ], "weight": 2, "year": 1971, "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/nc/279/0566-01" ] }, { "cite": "384 U.S. 436", "category": "reporters:federal", "reporter": "U.S.", "case_ids": [ 12046400 ], "weight": 8, "year": 1966, "pin_cites": [ { "page": "444" }, { "page": "706" }, { "page": "449-50" }, { "page": "709" }, { "page": "478" }, { "page": "726" } ], "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/us/384/0436-01" ] }, { "cite": "273 S.E. 2d 716", "category": "reporters:state_regional", "reporter": "S.E.2d", "year": 1981, "opinion_index": 0 }, { "cite": "302 N.C. 137", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "N.C.", "case_ids": [ 8564083 ], "year": 1981, "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/nc/302/0137-01" ] }, { "cite": "287 S.E. 2d 827", "category": "reporters:state_regional", "reporter": "S.E.2d", "year": 1982, "opinion_index": 0 }, { "cite": "305 N.C. 274", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "N.C.", "case_ids": [ 8567535 ], "year": 1982, "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/nc/305/0274-01" ] }, { "cite": "303 S.E. 2d 804", "category": "reporters:state_regional", "reporter": "S.E.2d", "year": 1983, "pin_cites": [ { "page": "809", "parenthetical": "Martin, J., concurring" } ], "opinion_index": 0 }, { "cite": "308 N.C. 736", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "N.C.", "case_ids": [ 4710863 ], "year": 1983, "pin_cites": [ { "page": "745", "parenthetical": "Martin, J., concurring" } ], "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/nc/308/0736-01" ] }, { "cite": "4 N.C. 698", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "N.C.", "year": 1818, "pin_cites": [ { "page": "699" } ], "opinion_index": 0 } ], "analysis": { "cardinality": 1125, "char_count": 28073, "ocr_confidence": 0.778, "pagerank": { "raw": 2.046067974568333e-07, "percentile": 0.7548133115096671 }, "sha256": "5efb36f1f9a96ff2e611b982ed0feb63e6f422a272f9cc10ae0c198c7ed956b5", "simhash": "1:b349e2c3662dd8cd", "word_count": 4553 }, "last_updated": "2023-07-14T14:55:24.016055+00:00", "provenance": { "date_added": "2019-08-29", "source": "Harvard", "batch": "2018" }, "casebody": { "judges": [], "parties": [ "STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA v. ROBERT LEE WEST" ], "opinions": [ { "text": "MARTIN, Justice.\nWe find no error in defendant\u2019s trial and sentences.\nDefendant was indicted on charges of rape in the first degree and sexual offense in the first degree. The charges stemmed from the allegations of Kimberly Ann Hayes, defendant\u2019s stepdaughter. Kimberly testified that on the morning of 16 April 1984, she missed the school bus and decided to skip school. Her mother had already left for work. She heard a door open and close at the back of the house, then saw defendant standing in the hallway. She ran to her bedroom and locked the door. Hearing defendant try the door, she opened the window and ran out into the yard. Defendant came out the front door into the yard, told Kimberly to come back into the house, and moved towards her. She refused, walking away towards a neighbor\u2019s house. She rang the neighbor\u2019s doorbell and was admitted. The neighbor, who could see that Kimberly was cold, shaking, and upset asked her what was wrong, and Kimberly replied that she couldn\u2019t take it any more and, when pressed for details, stated that defendant had been raping her over the course of several years. At Kimberly\u2019s request, the neighbor drove her to the parsonage of Kimberly\u2019s family church in McColl, S.C., where Kimberly told the preacher and his wife what had happened. The preacher\u2019s wife in turn told Kimberly\u2019s mother, and Kim and her mother notified the sheriffs department.\nKimberly\u2019s testimony about defendant\u2019s past attacks on her included in particular an incident occurring on the morning of 23 November 1981, when she was eleven years old. She was home from school with a cold, and defendant came into her room where she had been sleeping, carried her, kicking and screaming, to his bedroom, threw her on the bed, pulled a large chest in front of the door, disrobed her, then engaged in cunnilingus and intercourse with her. Similar incidents recurred several times over the succeeding years; but defendant threatened to hurt Kimberly and her mother if she ever told anyone, and, until the spring of 1984, fear and guilt compelled Kimberly\u2019s compliance. Shortly prior to the 16 April incident, however, following an argument with her mother, Kimberly told a friend about defendant\u2019s attacks. Then, on the morning of the sixteenth, her encounter with defendant at home precipitated the allegations giving rise to defendant\u2019s trial on charges of rape in the first degree and sexual offense in the first degree. Defendant was found guilty of both offenses and sentenced to imprisonment for two consecutive life terms.\nIn this appeal, defendant assigns error to the admission into evidence of certain information elicited from three sources other than Kimberly\u2019s testimony, to wit:\nReverend Black, the preacher at the McColl Church of God, testified that he met with defendant at the parsonage on April 17, the day after Kimberly had run to her neighbor for help. The preacher\u2019s wife was also present. Reverend Black testified that he talked to defendant about Kimberly\u2019s accusations, to which defendant responded that he was guilty and that he knew he had \u201cdone wrong.\u201d Defendant elaborated on his sexual desires, telling the preacher that he had had intercourse with Kimberly from when she was around nine years old, that he would just go into a \u201crage,\u201d and that he had bought pornographic literature and women\u2019s underwear.\nDefendant assigns error to three aspects of Reverend Black\u2019s testimony. First, defendant argues that the preacher was incompetent to testify under North Carolina\u2019s codification of the priest-penitent privilege, which provides:\nNo priest, rabbi, accredited Christian Science practitioner, or a clergyman or ordained minister of an established church shall be competent to testify in any action, suit or proceeding concerning any information which was communicated to him and entrusted to him in his professional capacity, and necessary to enable him to discharge the functions of his office according to the usual course of his practice or discipline, wherein such person so communicating such information about himself or another is seeking spiritual counsel and advice relative to and growing out of the information so imparted, provided, however, that this section shall not apply where communicant in open court waives the privilege conferred.\nN.C.G.S. \u00a7 8-53.2 (1981). The wording of the statute suggests two requisites that are not met under the facts of this case: one is that the defendant be seeking the counsel and advice of his minister; the other is that the information be entrusted to the minister \u2014that the communication be confidential.\nPrior to 1967, when the current provisions were enacted, the statute (chapter 646 of the 1959 North Carolina Session Laws) defined privileged information as that which may have been \u201cconfidentially communicated.\u201d The legislature\u2019s excision of the term \u201cconfidential\u201d from the current version of this statute was clearly not intended to broaden application of the privilege to all genre of general conversation with one\u2019s spiritual mentor, but merely to broaden the range of advisory and counseling practices to which it applies. We conclude that the expectation of trust and confidentiality inherent in communications covered under the prior statute was not affected by the legislature\u2019s modification in 1967 of that statute\u2019s wording.\nThere is no indication from the evidence before the trial court that defendant sought the counsel of Reverend Black. Rather, the evidence suggests that the preacher, who had told defendant\u2019s wife the day before that defendant \u201cneed[ed] help\u201d and that he \u201cwas going to try to help him,\u201d had sought out defendant for that purpose. Nor was the meeting, attended as it was by defendant, Reverend Black, and the latter\u2019s wife, one in which defendant had any reason to expect confidentiality. The conversation between defendant and Reverend Black, held as it was in the presence of Mrs. Black, appeared to be one in which the preacher was offering his advice and counsel, but it was not one in which defendant\u2019s admissions were entrusted to Reverend Black in pursuit of such counsel and advice. We hold that, under these circumstances, N.C.G.S. \u00a7 8-53.2 does not apply.\nSecond, defendant contends that the preacher\u2019s testimony of defendant\u2019s admitting to the purchase of pornographic material and ladies\u2019 underwear was irrelevant and prejudicial. Defendant argues that this testimony should have been excluded under the authority of Rule 403 of the North Carolina Rules of Evidence, because any probative value was outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice. The record reflects that defendant neither objected to nor moved to strike this remark at trial. He has therefore waived his right to assert this alleged error on appeal. N.C.G.S. \u00a7 15A-14460\u00bb) (1983); N.C.R. App. P. 10(b)(1).\nWe see no reason in the interests of justice to disturb the verdict in this case based upon the admission of this testimony. Defendant\u2019s telling the preacher of his purchasing habits was an admission, and admissions are competent evidence when not barred by an exclusionary statute or rule and when they are relevant. 2 Brandis on North Carolina Evidence \u00a7 167 (1982). So long as it is at all probative, the question whether an admission is prejudicial is immaterial. Apropos, the words of Justice (later Chief Justice) Ruffin, written over one hundred and fifty years ago, are still current:\nThe rule is universal that whatever a party says or does shall be in evidence against him, to be left to the jury. It is competent evidence. The jury can and will give it its due weight, according to the manner of obtaining the confession or the relative interests of him whose admissions are proved. I know of no solitary exception to this rule and cannot imagine one.\nMcRainey v. Clark, 4 N.C. 698, 699 (1818).\nEven if it was arguably error on relevance grounds to admit this portion of the preacher\u2019s testimony, it was not one of \u201csuch fundamental nature that . . . defendant has been deprived of a fair trial.\u201d State v. Black, 308 N.C. 736, 745, 303 S.E. 2d 804, 809 (1983) (Martin, J., concurring). Nor was it so egregious or manifestly prejudicial that there was a reasonable possibility that a different result would have obtained. N.C.G.S. \u00a7 15A-1443(a) (1983). The weighing of such evidence was properly left to the jury.\nThird, the trial court permitted Reverend Black to testify that, after he had heard Kimberly\u2019s account of how defendant had treated her, he had told Mrs. West \u201cthat Bob need[ed] to get help; that he was sick,\u201d and that \u201che need[ed] help and I was going to try to help him.\u201d Defendant objects that these remarks do not qualify under N.C.R. Evid. 701 as admissible lay opinion based on a rational perception of the witness that is materially helpful to the jury. Defendant argues that Reverend Black\u2019s characterization of defendant\u2019s behavior was based not upon his own perception of that behavior, but upon Kimberly\u2019s accusations and that, instead of being helpful to the jury, such remarks engender prejudice.\nThe context of Reverend Black\u2019s remarks to Mrs. West, however, does not indicate that Reverend Black necessarily or exclusively relied on what the victim had to say; rather, the facts that Reverend Black had known defendant for several months and that he had seen him regularly at church services gave the depth of his own experience to what he had more recently been told. In addition, these remarks aided the jury in understanding the witness and why he met with defendant the following day.\nReverend Black\u2019s use of the word \u201csick\u201d in describing defendant\u2019s behavior was not an expert\u2019s term of art \u2014 it did not signify that the preacher was any better qualified than the jury to draw inferences from the facts. See 1 Brandis on North Carolina Evidence \u00a7 132 (1982). It was not meant to indicate the preacher\u2019s opinion that defendant was physically or emotionally sick, as the same testimony by a physician or psychiatrist would have done. The preacher\u2019s use of that term was colloquial. Given the identity of the speaker, it indicated his personal perception of defendant\u2019s lack of moral equilibrium, a perception based at least in part upon his own acquaintance with defendant. Even assuming arguendo that the preacher\u2019s remarks were based solely upon what Kimberly had told him, it was not prejudicial error to admit those remarks; there is no reasonable possibility that a different result would have obtained had they been excluded. N.C.G.S. \u00a7 15A-1443(a) (1983); State v. Jordan, 305 N.C. 274, 287 S.E. 2d 827 (1982). The weight of the evidence against defendant \u2014 not only from Kimberly\u2019s testimony but from defendant\u2019s own admissions \u2014 assures us that these remarks by Reverend Black did not contribute to defendant\u2019s conviction. State v. Milby, 302 N.C. 137, 273 S.E. 2d 716 (1981).\nDefendant also assigns error to the trial court\u2019s failure to bar evidence derived from a second source: his admission of guilt made to officers in what defendant contends was a custodial interrogation, in violation of his constitutional rights as protected by Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 16 L.Ed. 2d 694 (1966). Garland Patterson, the deputy sheriff who had interviewed Kimberly and her mother, testified for the state that on 19 April he called defendant at home, identified himself as a detective with the Scotland County Sheriffs Department, and told defendant he would like to come over and talk to him. The latter was agreeable, and, about twenty minutes later, Patterson arrived with two other officers. The three identified themselves as police officers, and defendant invited them into the living room. Patterson told defendant that Kimberly and her mother had made certain allegations against him and said that they wished to hear his side. Defendant asked whether anything he said could be used against him in court and was told that it could. He then asked what the allegations were and, once informed, admitted that they were true.\nPatterson testified on voir dire that the department\u2019s investigation had already centered on defendant when the officers went to interview him, but that they did not yet have an arrest warrant. Miranda warnings were not issued. Patterson told defendant that in light of what Kimberly, her mother, and defendant himself had told him, warrants would be drawn, and he asked defendant if he would like to accompany the officers back to the courthouse. Defendant replied that he would like to fix something to eat and call his mother and asked the officers to come back later if they could. The officers made an appointment to return at seven o\u2019clock in the evening, which they did, serving a warrant and issuing Miranda warnings at that time.\nThe trial court concluded that none of defendant\u2019s constitutional rights had been infringed by this interview: there were no promises, offers of reward or inducements made by the officers in return for a statement or the lack of one; defendant had not been in custody, but in the privacy and freedom of his own home; and defendant\u2019s statement had been made freely, voluntarily, and understandingly.\nWe agree with the conclusions of the trial court. A custodial interrogation is \u201cquestioning initiated by law enforcement officers after a person has been taken into custody or otherwise deprived of his freedom of action in any significant way.\u201d Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. at 444, 16 L.Ed. 2d at 706. In Miranda, the United States Supreme Court recognized the critical difference between interrogation at police headquarters and questioning in the home of the defendant. Stressing the psychological influence of the interview\u2019s physical surroundings, that Court quoted the following from a criminal investigation text: \u201cIn his own home, he may be confident, indignant, or recalcitrant. He is more keenly aware of his rights and more reluctant to tell of his indiscretions or criminal behavior within the walls of his home. Moreover his family and other friends are nearby, their presence lending moral support.\u201d Id. at 449-50, 16 L.Ed. 2d at 709.\nAware as we are of the psychological influence of the interview\u2019s milieu, we do not consider the officers\u2019 conversation with defendant in the familiarity and convenience of defendant\u2019s own living room to have been equivalent to the \u201ccompelling atmosphere\u201d of a custodial interrogation, which would render a confession without Miranda warnings involuntary. See, e.g., State v. Gladden, 279 N.C. 566, 184 S.E. 2d 249 (1971). Our view is reinforced by the fact that the officers subsequently left, permitting defendant to exercise his freedom even more fully.\nAlthough, by the time they arrived at defendant\u2019s door, the officers\u2019 investigation had focused on him, defendant had not been charged. No warrant had been issued; he was not under arrest. The commandments of Miranda do not apply in situations \u201cwhere the defendant has available the easier and more effective method of invoking the [Fifth Amendment] privilege simply by leaving,\u201d State v. Davis, 305 N.C. 400, 418, 290 S.E. 2d 574, 585 (1982), or, under the circumstances of this case, simply by refusing to admit the officers or by asking them to leave. Such action might have been rude, but the constraints of etiquette are not tantamount to custody.\nThe facts before us are not significantly different from those in Gladden, 279 N.C. 566, 184 S.E. 2d 249, in which the defendant called the police, then invited an officer into her home in order to explain what had happened. This Court held that, under the circumstances of that case, there was no indication that defendant was in custody or had otherwise been deprived of her freedom prior to or during her conversation with the officer, nor was there any indication that at that time she had been charged with any criminal offense. Because defendant West\u2019s freedom was not restricted in any significant way, we hold that his statement was \u201cgiven freely and voluntarily without any compelling influences,\u201d and as such, it was admissible in evidence. Miranda, 384 U.S. at 478, 16 L.Ed. 2d at 726.\nFinally, defendant objects to the admission into evidence of the contents of a tape recording found by the side of the road within a mile of his house. The voice on the tape was identified by both Kimberly and her mother as being that of defendant. The voice described a sexual fantasy in which Kimberly was assaulted by several men, and it included the remark, \u201cI've been f \u2014 - her since she was eleven.\u201d Defendant\u2019s present objections to the tape rest generally upon the asserted irrelevance of its contents. N.C. R. Evid. 401. In addition, defendant opines, citing Rule 404, the tape impermissibly serves to show defendant\u2019s propensity to commit the offenses charged by illustrating his bad character, but does not fit within the exception to this rule permitting the admission of such evidence for purposes \u201csuch as proof of motive, opportunity, intent, preparation, plan, knowledge, identity, or absence of mistake, entrapment, or accident.\u201d N.C.R. Evid. 404(b).\nAt trial, however, defendant objected specifically not on Rule 401 or 404 grounds but on the basis of chain of custody and voice identification. These grounds have not been reiterated in his appeal. It is a well-recognized rule that:\nA specific objection, if overruled, will be effective only to the extent of the grounds specified. It makes no difference that there was another ground which would have been valid, unless there is no purpose at all for which the evidence would have been admissible.\n1 Brandis on North Carolina Evidence \u00a7 27 (1982). In addition, Rule 28(b)(5) of the North Carolina Rules of Appellate Procedure deems as abandoned exceptions \u201cin support of which no reason or argument is stated or authority cited.\u201d Taken together and applied to the record before us, these rules bar consideration on appeal of grounds not specifically cited as part of the objection as well as consideration on appeal of grounds specifically cited but not briefed. In short, \u201c[the] theory upon which a case is tried in the lower court must control in construing the record and determining the validity of the exceptions.\u201d State v. Hunter, 305 N.C. 106, 112, 286 S.E. 2d 535, 539 (1982).\nEven if this Court were to overlook the effect of these rules of disallowing the assertion of new grounds on appeal, defendant\u2019s objection that the contents of the tape were inadmissible is without merit. This is not a situation where a third person has learned of and reiterates examples of the defendant\u2019s behavior which indicate his bad character, calling into play the constraints of Rule 404. See, e.g., State v. Shane, 304 N.C. 643, 285 S.E. 2d 813 (1982) (former supervisor\u2019s testimony that defendant had admitted to committing fellatio with a prostitute held inadmissible because not relevant to offense in case at bar). Nor is it analogous to situations where the defendant is being cross-examined concerning specific acts of criminal and degrading conduct for purposes of impeachment. See 1 Brandis on North Carolina Evidence \u00a7 111. And see, e.g., State v. Jean, 310 N.C. 157, 311 S.E. 2d 266 (1984) (defendant admitted on cross that he had watched pornographic movies depicting acts of sexually deviant behavior); State v. Gurley, 283 N.C. 541, 196 S.E. 2d 725 (1973) (defendant properly cross-examined about possession of, familiarity with, and interest in pornographic magazines).\nProperly authenticated, the contents of the tape comprise an admission, which, as we noted before, is competent evidence and as to which objections based upon prejudicial effect are misplaced. We are satisfied with the trial court\u2019s findings regarding chain of custody, and we agree with the trial court\u2019s judgment that Mrs. West, Kimberly, and the deputy sheriff who interviewed defendant were all sufficiently familiar with defendant\u2019s voice to enable them to identify his voice on the recording. In addition, the tape\u2019s contents corroborate this identification testimony: the speaker mentions Kimberly\u2019s name and age and fantasizes about what he would like to do \u201csometime when I know she\u2019s home by herself and her mama is gonna be at that plant . . . .\u201d There can be no question that the tape\u2019s contents, including as they do defendant\u2019s admission of intercourse since Kimberly was eleven, are relevant to the offenses with which he was charged and tried. Accordingly, we hold that the contents of the tape were properly admitted into evidence.\nIn conclusion, we hold that none of defendant\u2019s assignments of error in this appeal is meritorious.\nNo error.\n. Defendant contends that, because this conversation was privileged and because the priest-penitent privilege statute arguably makes this evidence inadmissible in light of a significant public policy, an objection is deemed taken as a matter of law. 1 Brandis on North Carolina Evidence \u00a7 27 (1982). Given our analysis of the inapplicability of the priest-penitent privilege to the facts of this case, we reject this reasoning. In addition, we remind defendant of Brandis\u2019s highly critical attitude towards this exception, indicated in a footnote to the very passage cited by defendant, including Brandis\u2019s conclusion that \u201cthere is no satisfactory answer [to the scope of the exception] except complete repudiation of the rule.\u201d 1 Brandis on North Carolina Evidence \u00a7 27, at 100 n.82.\n. Defendant\u2019s assignments of error indicate that he twice subsequently objected generally to the admission of the tape into evidence. Although N.C.R. Evid. 103 requires no particular form for objections in order to preserve the alleged error on appeal, it does require that the alleged error be \u201cclearly presented\u201d to the trial court. N.C.R. Evid. 103(a)(1). The function of an objection is not only to signify that there is an issue of law, but also \u201cto give notice of the terms of its issue.\u201d 1 Wigmore, Evidence \u00a7 18 (Tillers rev. 1983). Defendant cited no new terms for issuing his second and third objections, and the trial court would surely have been justified in assuming that defendant reiterated his objection based upon the grounds originally specified. In addition, no other grounds for an objection were obvious at that point in the trial record \u2014least of all irrelevance and objectionable prejudice.\n. N.C.R. Evid. 901(a) provides: \u201cThe requirement of authentication or identification as a condition precedent to admissibility is satisfied by evidence sufficient to support a finding that the matter in question is what its proponent claims.\u201d This provision is illustrated for the purposes of voice identification at Rule 901(b)(5): \u201cIdentification of a voice, whether heard firsthand or through mechanical or electronic transmission or recording, by opinion based upon hearing the voice at any time under circumstances connecting it with the alleged speaker.\u201d As mentioned above, however, defendant does not contest the tape\u2019s authenticity on appeal.", "type": "majority", "author": "MARTIN, Justice." } ], "attorneys": [ "Lacy H. Thornburg, Attorney General, by David Roy Blackwell, Assistant Attorney General, for the state.", "Gordon Widenhouse for defendant." ], "corrections": "", "head_matter": "STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA v. ROBERT LEE WEST\nNo. 213A85\n(Filed 2 July 1986)\n1. Criminal Law \u00a7 82\u2014 priest-penitent privilege not applicable \u2014 defendant not seeking counsel of minister \u2014conversation not confidential\nA preacher was not incompetent to testify under North Carolina\u2019s codification of the priest-penitent privilege where the evidence suggested that the preacher sought out defendant and their conversation was held in the presence of the preacher\u2019s wife. N.C.G.S. \u00a7 8-53.2 (1981), N.C.G.S. \u00a7 15A-1443(a) (1983).\n2. Rape and Allied Offenses \u00a7 4.1\u2014 first degree rape and sexual offense \u2014 admission of purchase of pornographic materials and ladies' underwear \u2014 no prejudice\nIn a prosecution for first degree rape and first degree sexual offense against defendant\u2019s stepdaughter, there was no prejudicial error in the admission of defendant\u2019s admission to his preacher of the purchase of pornographic material and ladies\u2019 underwear. Defendant neither objected nor moved to strike the remark at trial and, even if it was arguably irrelevant, the error was not of so fundamental a nature that defendant was deprived of a fair trial.\n3. Criminal Law \u00a7 85.2\u2014 rape \u2014 minister\u2019s statement that defendant sick \u2014 nonprejudicial\nThe trial court did not err in a prosecution for first degree sexual offense and first degree rape by admitting statements by defendant\u2019s preacher that defendant was sick and needed help. The context of the preacher\u2019s remarks did not indicate that he was relying exclusively on statements by defendant\u2019s stepdaughter, the victim; the use of the word sick in describing defendant\u2019s behavior was colloquial, indicating the speaker\u2019s perception of defendant\u2019s lack of moral equilibrium; and there was no reasonable possibility that a different result could have been obtained had the remarks been excluded.\n4. Criminal Law \u00a7 75.1\u2014 rape investigation focused on defendant \u2014 officers called on defendant at home \u2014 no arrest warrant or charge \u2014 inculpatory statement admissible\nAn inculpatory statement made by defendant to officers in a prosecution for first degree rape and first degree sexual offense was admissible where deputies called defendant at home and said they would like to talk with him; defendant agreed and deputies arrived at his home about twenty minutes later; the three officers identified themselves and defendant invited them into the living room; a deputy told defendant that his stepdaughter and her mother had made certain allegations against him and said that they wished to hear his side; defendant asked whether anything he said could be used against him and was told that it could; defendant asked what the allegations were and, once informed, admitted that they were true; the Sheriff Department\u2019s investigation had already centered on defendant but deputies did not yet have a warrant when they went to interview him; Miranda warnings were not issued; defendant was told that warrants would be drawn in light of what his stepdaughter, her mother and defendant had told deputies; defendant was asked if he would like to accompany officers back to the courthouse and defendant asked officers to come back later; and officers returned at a later time with a warrant and issued Miranda warnings. Although the investigation had focused on defendant, defendant had not been charged, a warrant had not been issued, and the officers\u2019 conversation with defendant in the familiarity and convenience of his own living room was not equivalent to the compelling atmosphere of a custodial interrogation.\n5. Criminal Law \u00a7 70\u2014 tape recording found close to defendant\u2019s house admissible\nThe trial court did not err by admitting into evidence in a prosecution for first degree rape and first degree sexual offense the contents of a tape recording found less than a mile from defendant\u2019s house in which a voice identified by the victim and her mother as defendant described a sexual fantasy involving the victim and included the remark that the speaker had been having sexual relations with the victim since she was eleven. Defendant objected at trial only on the basis of chain of custody and voice identification, not on Rule 401 or 404 grounds; the trial court\u2019s findings regarding chain of custody were sufficient; defendant\u2019s wife, his stepdaughter, and the deputy who interviewed him were all sufficiently familiar with his voice to make an identification; the tape\u2019s contents corroborated their identification testimony; and there was no question that the contents of the tape were relevant to the offenses for which defendant was tried. N.C.G.S. \u00a7 8C-1, Rules 401 and 404.\nAppeal by defendant from judgments entered by Ellis, J., at the 13 November 1984 session of Superior Court, SCOTLAND County. Defendant was convicted of rape in the first degree and sexual offense in the first degree. From the judgments of life imprisonment, defendant appeals as a matter of right pursuant to N.C.G.S. \u00a7 7A-27(a). Heard in the Supreme Court 13 May 1986.\nLacy H. Thornburg, Attorney General, by David Roy Blackwell, Assistant Attorney General, for the state.\nGordon Widenhouse for defendant." }, "file_name": "0219-01", "first_page_order": 255, "last_page_order": 266 }