State v. Beatty
North Carolina Supreme Court
495 S.E.2d 367 (1998)
- Written by Rose VanHofwegen, JD
Facts
Edward Beatty (defendant) and several other men robbed a restaurant. As they approached, the owner was standing outside the door. The robbers put a gun to his head and told him to open the safe. Inside, the robbers saw two restaurant employees, Hristos Poulos, who was washing the floor near the front, and Tom Koufaloitis, who was standing near the safe in the back. One robber held a gun to Poulos’s head and guarded him. An unarmed robber duct-taped Koufaloitis’s wrists, made him lie on the floor, and kicked him twice. Meanwhile, the owner failed to open the safe on the first try. The robbers said to hurry up and shot him twice in the legs, and the owner opened the safe. The robbers took the money and fled, with the whole robbery taking three to four minutes. In addition to robbery and assault, a jury convicted Beatty on two counts of second-degree kidnapping based on restraining the two restaurant employees. The appellate court affirmed with one judge dissenting. Beatty appealed to the North Carolina Supreme Court, arguing the evidence did not show restraint separate from that necessarily involved in committing the robbery, so it could not count as the separate crime of kidnapping.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Whichard, J.)
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