State v. Gibbs, COA23-566, ___ N.C. App. ___ (May. 7, 2024)

In this Watauga County Case, defendant appealed his convictions for three counts of second-degree rape and one count of sex offense in a parental role, arguing four points of error. The Court of Appeals found no error. 

In 2020, a sergeant with the Watauga County Sheriff’s office discovered a 2004 report prepared by a social worker documenting allegations that defendant was abusing his step-children. The sergeant contacted the victim in this case and conducted an interview, where she recounted two instances of abuse, one involving oral sex after a science fair when the victim was in the seventh grade, and the second where sexually assaulted her in a car in the garage of their house, along with ongoing abuse for several months thereafter. The matter came for trial in 2023, and the victim testified about defendant’s abuse consistent with the interview. 

The Court of Appeals first took up defendant’s argument that the indictments were deficient and fatally defective, finding no merit to the argument. Defendant argued that the indictments did not specifically identify the days on which the alleged offenses occurred, and that the multiple charges of second-degree rape were identical and could not be distinguished by the jury. The court explained that a policy of leniency applies to child sex abuse cases, and noted that this was expressly incorporated into G.S. 15-155 “by expressly providing no stay or reversal of a judgment on an indictment when time is not of the essence of the offense.” Slip Op. at 6. The court also noted that the jury was instructed that it “must find separate, distinct incidents of rape for each count.” Id. at 8.  

In defendant’s second argument, he contended error for denying his motion to dismiss for insufficient evidence, pointing to the lack of physical evidence and the victim’s previous refusal to prosecute the violations. The court disagreed, noting “[o]ur courts have repeatedly held victim statements and testimony alone are sufficient evidence to support a conviction.” Id. at 10. Here, the victim’s testimony established the events in question and the constructive force by defendant necessary to support the convictions. 

In the third argument, defendant argued the jury instructions were insufficient, but the court disagreed, noting it had already addressed defendant’s arguments regarding the lack of specific dates for the offenses and separate, distinct incidents for each rape charge. The court also dispensed with defendant’s final issue, the trial court’s decision to impose consecutive sentences, explaining that it was within the trial court’s discretion and each sentence was within the presumptive range.