v. Burnell

Citations

• 2019 COA 142

Syllabus

Defendant was living with his parents when he got into an argument with his father, who has health issues. His father threatened to call police if he didn't leave, and defendant grabbed him by the wrists and made him sit down on the couch. Then defendant grabbed some of his belongings and left the house. Several hours later his parents called the police. Defendant was convicted of third-degree assault of an at-risk victim and harassment and sentenced to three years of supervised probation. On appeal, defendant argued that the trial court committed reversible error by taking the verdict while he was not present. To proceed with trial in a criminal defendant's absence, a trial court is required to find that the defendant is voluntarily absent. Here, rather than attempt to find out why defendant was late, the trial court assumed that the unexplained absence was voluntary. Therefore, the court erred. However, because nothing in the record suggested any juror was conflicted in this case, there was no reasonable possibility that defendant's absence contributed to the verdict. Accordingly, the error was harmless. Defendant next argued that the trial court erred when it allowed the prosecution to introduce evidence that defendant's mother consulted with a mental health professional before deciding to call the police because the evidence was not relevant, and even if it was, any probative value was outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice. The evidence presented was that defendant's mother called a colleague who was both a psychiatrist and a psychologist and was familiar with defendant, and the colleague recommended she call the police. No testimony was presented that defendant was dangerous or had been diagnosed or treated for mental illness. Therefore, the trial court did not act arbitrarily, unreasonably, or unfairly in admitting the evidence. Defendant also contended that the trial court did not properly respond to a jury question during deliberations requesting a de