State v. Nanes, COA24-487, ___ N.C. App. ___ (Feb. 19, 2025)

In this Wake County case, defendant appealed his convictions for first-degree murder and possession of a firearm by a felon, arguing (1) G.S. 14-415.1, the statute making possession of a firearm by a felon an offense, was unconstitutional, and (2) error in admitting defendant’s own statements. The Court of Appeals held G.S. 14-415.1 was constitutional and found no error.  

During August of 2020, defendant shot and killed two victims he had never met, one in Raleigh and another in Cary. Defendant’s probation officer recognized a BOLO put out by police, and reported him, leading to his arrest. Defendant had previously been convicted of felony animal cruelty for stealing his parent’s dog and decapitating it with a knife. At trial, the State offered statements from defendant made during a phone call with his mother, where she questioned why he posted a picture of a firearm on social media despite being convicted of a felony. Defendant responded “[t]his is a hard time for our country, and you’ve got racist black people out here.” Slip Op. at 18.

In (1), defendant argued that G.S. 14-415.1 was unconstitutional both facially and as-applied to his situation, pointing to N.Y. State Rifle & Pistol Ass’n, Inc. v. Bruen, 597 U.S. 1 (2022), and United States v. Rahimi, 602 U.S. 680 (2024), to support his arguments. The Court of Appeals began with the facial challenge, noting “the State must only show that section 14-415.1 ‘is constitutional in some of its applications.’” Slip Op. at 6 (quoting Rahimi at 693). The court acknowledged that G.S. 14-415.1 regulated some conduct covered by the Second Amendment, but concluded the section was “sufficiently analogous to historical laws to show that prohibiting convicted felons from possessing firearms is within the nation’s history and tradition of firearm regulation.” Id. at 6-7. Because G.S. 14-415.1 could be “applied constitutionally to numerous circumstances” the court found no merit in defendant’s facial challenge. Id. at 10.

Moving to the as-applied constitutional challenge, defendant argued his felony did not represent violent crime against a person, and therefore shouldn’t justify disarming him. The court again disagreed, noting that beheading the dog was a violent crime, and “the record reflects Defendant has a history of victimizing others resulting in convictions for: assault on a government official or employee, simple assault, simple assault again, assault inflicting serious injury, assault on a handicapped person, and assault and battery.” Id. at 11. This led the court to conclude defendant had a history of violence towards others, and removing his right to possess a firearm was well within historical tradition. The court also considered defendant’s arguments under Section 30 of the North Carolina Constitution, applying the five-factor framework from Britt v. State, 363 N.C. 546, (2009). After performing the analysis the court concluded “the Britt factors undoubtedly weigh in favor of upholding the application of section 14-415.1 against Defendant as he has a demonstrated history of violence, victimizing others, and disregarding the law.” Slip Op. at 16.

Arriving at (2), the court explained “[t]he State’s theory of the case was that, because both victims were peaceful individuals whom Defendant had never met that happened to be people of color, the murders were committed out of racial animus on Defendant’s part.” Id. at 18. This made defendant’s comments relevant and probative of his motive for the murders under Rule of Evidence 401. The court then looked to the Rule of Evidence 403 balancing test, concluding the trial court adequately balanced the prejudicial effect with the probative value. The court noted that several of defendant’s statements that were more inflammatory were excluded, and even if it were error to admit the statements, overwhelming evidence supported defendant’s guilt in the matter, meaning he could not demonstrate the jury would have reached a different result without the statement in evidence.