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Thread: Charles Thomas Stacks Sentenced to LWOP in 2015 NC Murder of 2-Year-Old Jaxson Sonny Swain

  1. #11
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    April 3, 2018

    Witness: Charles Stacks admitted he slammed child's head several times, said he felt was demon-possessed


    By Michael Hewlett
    Winston Salem-Journal

    A Forsyth County man testified Wednesday that Charles Stacks said he felt demon-possessed when he grabbed a 2-year-old boy and slammed the boy’s head several times.

    The man, Joshua Daniel Justice, told jurors in Stacks’ first-degree murder trial that Stacks made that confession while the two men were in adjacent cells at the Forsyth County Jail in 2015.

    Stacks told Justice he was angry because he believed the boy’s mother had ripped him off on money she owed him and left him and his wife without enough heroin to use and a 2-year-old boy who would not stop crying, Justice said Wednesday in Forsyth Superior Court.

    Charles Thomas Stacks, 33, is on trial this week for first-degree murder and felony child abuse, inflicting serious bodily injury in the death of Jaxson Sonny Swain in August 2015. If convicted of first-degree murder, he faces the possibility of getting the death penalty. The trial is expected to last four to six weeks.

    Charles Stacks was taking care of Jaxson at the house at 5450 Grubbs St., that he shared with his wife, Megin Stacks, and their four children. Candace Swain, according to prosecutors, had stayed at the Stackses’ house off and on the last few weeks of Jaxson’s life. She was a heroin addict who worked as a prostitute in exchange for money and drugs, prosecutors said.

    In opening statements, prosecutors said Charles Stacks sold Candace Swain drugs and acted as her pimp.

    Jaxson was found unconscious at the house on Aug. 16, 2015, and died three days later at Brenner Children’s Hospital. According to testimony, Jaxson had bruises all over his body along with human bite marks. He died from bleeding in his brain caused by blunt-force trauma. A part of his skull had to be removed to relieve brain swelling and he would have had severe cognitive and physical challenges if he had survived, Dr. Daniel E. Couture, a neurosurgeon at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, testified Wednesday.

    Justice said in court that in 2015, he was awaiting trial on armed robbery and other charges and was placed in a cell next door to Charles Stacks. He said he first met Charles Stacks in May 2015 and had gone to 5450 Grubbs St., five to six times to buy heroin and prescription drugs.

    Justice said one day while he was in his jail cell, he heard a voice he immediately recognized as belonging to Stacks. He called out, and Stacks confirmed that it was him. The two men then started talking, Justice said. He and Stacks, he said, were suffering from drug withdrawal.

    Justice said he had managed to get suboxone, a drug sometimes used to treat opioid addiction, into the Forsyth County Jail, which is against the rules. He gave the suboxone to Stacks, but Stacks initially didn’t want to talk about his criminal case.

    But early one morning, Stacks was yelling and screaming, waking Justice up. Stacks asked if he could trust Justice, and Justice said Stacks could.

    And that’s when, according to Justice, Stacks began confessing.

    Justice said Stacks believed Candace Swain had ripped him off. Charles Stacks and Megin Stacks were both “dope sick,” which means they were experiencing withdrawal symptoms from heroin. Candace Swain had left the house, and the Stackses were caring for Jaxson. Candace Swain had gone to the Days Inn on Germanton Road, where she would pay for a room and work as a prostitute.

    Charles and Megin Stacks had repeatedly called Candace Swain, but she would not answer her phone, leaving Charles Stacks to believe Candace Swain might not be returning. He was angry, Justice said, that Candace Swain owed him money and also might not be coming back with more drugs. Jaxson was crying and Stacks told him to shut up and that his mother was not coming back, Justice said.

    According to Justice, Stacks said he grabbed Jaxson by the waist and slammed the boy’s head into something several times. Stacks didn’t tell Justice whether that was the floor or a table or some other surface area, Justice said.

    Stacks also didn’t tell him how many times he banged the child’s head, Justice said.

    “I felt like I was demon-possessed,” Stacks said, according to Justice.

    Charles Stacks told Justice he didn’t intend to kill Jaxson, Justice said. Justice also said that in a later conversation, Stacks called Candace Swain a “piece of (expletive),” and said that Jaxson was better off in heaven.

    That, Justice said, appalled him and after that, he cut off contact with Charles Stacks. He also contacted a jail official about what Stacks told him, which led him to an interview with Winston-Salem police detectives.

    Stephen Ball, one of Stacks’ attorneys, will vehemently challenge Justice’s credibility and motives in cross-examination Thursday. In opening arguments, Ball said Justice asked police detectives what kind of consideration he might get for the information he was providing about Stacks.

    He pointed out that Justice was initially charged with armed robbery but pleaded guilty to common-law robbery and larceny of a motor vehicle. In direct testimony, Justice denied that he had gotten any deal in exchange for his testimony. He told the jury that the plea arrangement required that he plead guilty to the lower charges and that prosecutors would not indict him for being a habitual felon.

    Ball also said Stacks and Justice didn’t know each other and there is no way Justice could have gone to the Stackses’ house in May 2015 because the Stackses did not move into the house until July of that year.

    When asked why he was testifying, Justice said, “I’m doing this for justice for Jaxson and to tell the truth.”

    https://www.journalnow.com/news/crim...0f50208d6.html
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  2. #12
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    Sister: Charles Stacks would hit and kick Jaxson Sonny Swain and once kicked the boy in the back for not walking fast enough

    By Michael Hewlett
    Winston Salem-Journal

    Charles Thomas Stacks would hit and kick 2-year-old Jaxson Sonny Swain if the boy did not do what Stacks wanted, Jaxson’s older sister testified Thursday in Forsyth Superior Court.

    Izzabella Swain, now 11, recalled one time when they were walking down a hallway in the house where Charles Stacks and his wife, Megin Stacks, lived with their four children. Jaxson wasn’t walking fast enough.

    She said Charles Stacks kicked the little boy in the back.

    “He abused Jaxson,” she said. As she testified, she occasionally wiped tears from her eyes. She turned her body to the side in the witness stand so she could directly face the jury and would turn her head sometimes to look at Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Martin, who asked her questions. Not once did she look at Charles Stacks.

    Forsyth County prosecutors allege that Charles Thomas Stacks tortured and assaulted Jaxson on the night of Aug. 16, 2015, leaving the 2-year-old boy with traumatic brain injuries that ultimately led to his death three days later at Brenner Children’s Hospital.

    Charles Stacks is on trial in Forsyth Superior Court for first-degree murder and felony child abuse, inflicting serious bodily injury in Jaxson’s death. He is also charged with felony possession of heroin.

    Paramedics and Winston-Salem police officers found Jaxson unconscious and lying in a bathtub of cold water on Aug. 16, 2015. He had bruises all over his body and he also had what police and prosecutors allege are human bite marks. Jaxson also had bleeding on his brain and severe brain swelling. His injuries required emergency surgery so that doctors could remove part of his skull in an effort to relieve the swelling.

    An autopsy said that Jaxson died from bleeding on the brain caused by blunt-force injury.

    According to testimony and opening statements, Candace Swain, Jaxson’s mother, moved into the Stackses’ house at 5450 Grubbs St., where she stayed on and off with Izzabella and Jaxson. She also was a heroin addict who worked as a prostitute to maintain her drug habit. Prosecutors have alleged that Charles Stacks was her drug dealer and her pimp.

    Izzabella said she didn’t know why she was living at the Stackses’ house. Both Charles Stacks and Megin Stacks treated her well.

    But when Martin asked her about how Charles Stacks, whom she called Tommy, treated Jaxson, she said he was not nice.

    “He hit Jaxson,” she said.

    Charles Stacks would scream at the boy and demand that the boy say, “Yes, sir,” she said.

    She said Charles Stacks would also hit her brother with his hands and his feet. Martin asked what she meant when she said Charles Stacks hit her brother with his feet.

    “He was kicking him,” she said.

    There were also times when she was in another room with one of the Stackses’ children and she heard Jaxson crying while Charles Stacks screamed at him.

    She did not see the alleged incident on the night of Aug. 16, 2015.

    “All I know is he was in the bathroom,” she said. “He was in the bathtub.”

    She said she heard Charles Stacks tell Jaxson to lay down in the tub and that Jaxson needed to get clean. She said she didn’t know what he meant by “get clean.”

    Earlier in the day on Thursday, Judge Stuart Albright denied a motion from Stacks’ attorneys, Nils Gerber and Stephen Ball, to take the death penalty off the table. Their motion was based on the testimony of Joshua Justice, who said Wednesday that Charles Stacks made a full confession to him while the two men were incarcerated in the Forsyth County Jail.

    He testified Wednesday that Charles Stacks told Justice that he grabbed Jaxson and slammed the boy several times. He said Stacks was upset at Candace Swain because she owed a drug debt and had left him with taking care of her child, who was crying.

    Gerber and Ball said they had recently found evidence that Justice was lying. Justice had testified that he had met Charles Stacks in late May 2015 at 5450 Grubbs St. But Ball said he was able to talk to the landlord and get paperwork establishing that the Stackses did not sign a lease for the house until July 2, 2015. They moved into the house sometime after that date, Ball said.

    There’s no way Justice could have met Charles Stacks at the house if the Stackses weren’t living there. But Albright said that’s not definitive proof that Justice was lying. The Stackses may not have resided at the house but that doesn’t mean they couldn’t have gone to the house on the dates Justice said they were there.

    Ball spent most of the morning Thursday cross-examining Justice and seeking to poke holes in Justice’s story and imply that Justice was seeking some kind of consideration for his information on Stacks.

    The trial will continue today and is expected to last four to six weeks.

    https://www.journalnow.com/news/crim...0507ed8ca.html
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  3. #13
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    Edited:

    Testimony: Two-year-old Winston-Salem boy killed in 2015 had more than 20 different injuries

    By Michael Hewlett
    Winston Salem-Journal

    A 2-year-old boy who died nearly four years ago had more than 20 different injuries all over his body, including wounds that appeared to be bite marks, according to testimony Friday during the murder trial of Charles Thomas Stacks.

    Stacks, 33, is on trial for first-degree murder and felony child abuse, inflicting serious bodily injury in the 2015 death of Jaxson Sonny Swain. Stacks is also being tried for possession of heroin.

    Paramedics and Winston-Salem police found Jaxson unconscious and lying in a bathtub of cold water on the night of Aug. 16, 2015.

    Jaxson was taken to Brenner Children’s Hospital, where he was rushed into emergency surgery to remove part of his skull to relieve swelling of his brain.

    He died three days later on Aug. 19, 2015.

    Dr. Tiffany O’Neill, a Forsyth County medical examiner, testified in Forsyth Superior Court on Friday that she counted 24 different injuries on Jaxson’s body. Jaxson had multiple contusions and abrasions all over his body. Most of those injuries were from some sort of blunt-force trauma.

    Jaxson had multiple contusions on his head and around his eyes, she said. He also had a loop-shaped wound on his chest. O’Neill said she didn’t know what object might have caused such a wound.

    O’Neill also testified that she found evidence that Jaxson had a subdural hematoma, which is a collection of blood outside the brain.

    Dr. Meggan Goodpasture, a pediatrician at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center who specializes in child abuse and neglect, testified that she examined Jaxson while he was at Brenner Children’s Hospital.

    She said Jaxson had five different wounds that appeared to be bite marks. She said a doctor who specializes in bite marks was contacted and that doctor recommended everyone who lived at the house on Grubbs Street have dental impressions done to compare to the marks found on Jaxson’s body.

    Nils Gerber, Stacks’ attorney, asked if that was done. Goodpasture said she didn’t know.

    Goodpasture also testified that Jaxson’s body was covered in bruises and abrasions.

    She testified that Jaxson had bruising on his genitals and that parts of his genitals were swollen.

    Under cross-examination from Gerber, Goodpasture said she could not say for certain what caused many of the injuries found on Jaxson.

    Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Martin said late Friday afternoon in court that prosecutors expect to call five more witnesses. She said those witnesses would be brief and that the state could possibly rest its case Monday afternoon.
    https://www.journalnow.com/news/crim...f59d84db9.html
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  4. #14
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    Charles Stacks found guilty of first degree murder in death of 2-year-old Jaxson Swain

    By Michael Hewlett
    Winston Salem-Journal

    Charles Thomas Stacks has been found in guilty of first-degree murder and felony child abuse in the death of 2-year-old Jaxson Sonny Swain.

    The jury will now decide whether he gets the death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of parole. The sentencing phase of the trial begins at 2:30 p.m.

    Stacks, 33, is on trial in Forsyth Superior Court for first-degree murder and felony child abuse, inflicting serious bodily injury in Jaxson’s death. He is also facing a charge of possession of heroin.

    Forsyth County paramedics and Winston-Salem police found Jaxson on Aug. 16, 2015, at the house Stacks and his wife, Megin, rented at 5450 Grubbs St. The couple lived there with their four children. Charles Stacks was friends with Jaxson’s mother, Candace Swain, who stayed at the house on and off for the first two weeks of August, along with Jaxson and his then-7-year-old sister, Izzabella Swain.

    Forsyth County prosecutors said Candace Swain was a neglectful mother who was strung out on heroin and worked as a prostitute to support her drug habit. They said Charles Stacks was her drug dealer and her pimp.

    Prosecutors Jennifer Martin and James Dornfried argued that the evidence presented at trial overwhelmingly proved that Charles Stacks tortured Jaxson over a period of time, abuse that culminated in slamming Jaxson repeatedly on the ground, causing a brain injury that killed him three days later. They said that, to cover his crime, Charles Stacks cleaned out the bathtub he had put Jaxson in.

    And the reason he assaulted Jaxson on Aug. 16, 2015, was simple, Dornfried said. Stacks was angry that he had no heroin left to use and that he was alone to take care of six children, Dornfried said.

    “He was left with kids all day and he couldn’t get high,” he said.

    Martin said Stacks started small, whipping the child when Jaxson failed to abide by his rules, including calling Stacks “sir.” She said he was upset that Jaxson was not potty-trained and put a rubber-band around the boy’s penis to keep him from urinating on himself. That resulted in redness on Jaxson’s penis, according to Martin.

    Jaxson also had what Martin alleged were cigarette burns on his back.

    https://www.journalnow.com/news/crim...42b96ac3d.html
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  5. #15
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    Charles Stacks, facing possible death sentence, mouthed profanity at prosecutors, judge says

    By Michael Hewlett
    Winston Salem-Journal

    Charles Thomas Stacks, convicted of beating a 2-year-old boy to death, twice mouthed a profanity at Forsyth County prosecutors Wednesday morning as they tried to convince a jury to impose the death sentence on him, a Forsyth County judge ruled.

    Judge Stuart Albright of Forsyth Superior Court interrupted the closing argument of Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Martin as she was telling the jury that Charles Stacks slammed 2-year-old Jaxson Sonny Swain to the ground, causing a traumatic brain injury, on Aug. 16, 2015 and that he was a drug dealer who never was able to hold down a job. Albright sent the jury out of the courtroom.

    He said outside the jury's hearing that he saw Charles Stacks mouth the words, "F--- you," at Martin.

    "The defendant did that here in open court," he said.

    Later, after all closing arguments had been completed and Albright had sent the jury to lunch, Assistant District Attorney James Dornfried, who made the first closing arguments for prosecutors, said he saw Charles Stacks mouth "F--- you," to him.

    Albright then asked deputy clerk Joanne Hill if she had seen Charles Stacks say those words to Dornfried. She said he had.

    It wasn't clear whether jurors saw Stacks mouth profanities, though Dornfried made mention during his closing argument that Stacks had appeared to smile during the proceedings.

    Friday, the jury found Charles Stacks, 33, guilty of first-degree murder, felony child abuse, inflicting serious bodily injury and felony possession of heroin after deliberating a total of two and a half hours.

    The jury will now have to decide which of two sentences to recommend: life in prison without the possibility of parole or the death penalty.

    Forsyth County prosecutors alleged during the trial that Charles Stacks inflicted a number of injuries on Jaxson Sonny Swain, including five bite marks and bruises and abrasions over his body. Jaxson's penis was swollen, and Martin said in closing arguments that the swelling was likely caused by Charles Stacks putting a rubber band on it to keep the child from urinating on himself. Prosecutors also alleged that the child had burn marks on his back. Jaxson died from bleeding on the brain caused by blunt-force trauma.

    Nils Gerber, one of Stacks' attorneys, asked a simple question to jurors that he said illustrated the main issue.

    "Do you need to kill Tommy Stacks?" he said.

    As Gerber made his closing arguments, Verna Stacks, Charles Stacks' adoptive mother, sobbed in the second row of the courtroom. Verna Stacks and her husband, Fred Stacks, said Tuesday during the trial's sentencing phase that they adopted Charles Stacks when he was 16 days old.

    A bailiff approached Verna Stacks and asked if she was okay. Soon afterward, she was led out of the courtroom along with her husband. Albright interrupted Gerber's closing arguments and sent the jury out. Albright told people in the courtroom that he didn't want to have anything happening that could distract the jury from listening to the closing arguments.

    He soon brought the jury back in, and Verna and Fred Stacks did not come back into the courtroom.

    Gerber and another Stacks attorney, Stephen Ball, argued that life in prison was punishment enough. Ball argued that prosecutors had not provided sufficient evidence for one of the aggravating circumstances — that Jaxson's murder was especially heinous, atrocious and cruel.

    Ball told the jury that Jaxson's mother, Candace Swain, told paramedics the bruises on Jaxson's face came from an incident a few days before and that some of the bite marks came from another child at the playground. He emphasized that Candace Swain did not testify at the trial.

    Both prosecutors and defense attorneys have said that Candace Swain was addicted to heroin and worked as a prostitute to support her drug habit. Prosecutors said Charles Stacks was Candace Swain's drug dealer and pimp. She was living on and off with Charles Stacks and his wife, Megin Stacks, and their four children at 5450 Grubbs St., where Jaxson was found unconscious on Aug. 16, 2015.

    Gerber said if Charles Stacks gets a life sentence, that means he will spend the rest of his life behind prison walls and that he will die in prison.

    "I'm not asking for a pass," he said.

    For the prosecution, Martin and Dornfried argued that the death penalty was the appropriate sentence for what Charles Stacks was convicted of doing — brutally murdering 2-year-old Jaxson Sonny Swain, a child who stood 3-feet tall and weighed about 30 pounds.

    "He cared not one bit about this 2-year-old's life, and that's why we're here," Dornfried said.

    https://www.journalnow.com/news/crim...edbb48edb.html
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  6. #16
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    Charles Stacks gets life in prison in death of toddler. Jaxson Sonny Swain was beaten to death in 2015

    By Michael Hewlett
    Winston Salem-Journal

    Just before he was sent to prison for the rest of his life, Charles Thomas Stacks told a judge that he was innocent of beating 2-year-old Jaxson Sonny Swain to death nearly four years ago.

    He told Judge Stuart Albright that he disagreed with some of the legal strategy of his attorneys, Nils Gerber and Stephen Ball, and accused Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Martin, one of four prosecutors who tried the case, of misconduct in putting a certain witness on the stand. He also insisted that all the evidence in the case was not presented to the jury.

    “I don’t believe you,” Albright replied when Stacks insisted he didn’t murder Jaxson. As Stacks continued to talk, Albright said, “Don’t get sassy with me.”

    The day before during closing arguments, Albright found that Stacks had mouthed “F-you” twice to Martin and Assistant District Attorney James Dornfried. Stacks attempted to apologize for those comments Thursday and told Albright he was not trying to be sassy.

    “You’re just mean,” Albright said. “You refuse to accept responsibility. I’m making that finding.”

    Albright told Stacks that if he could, he would find Stacks in contempt of court, but that wouldn’t make any sense. A contempt conviction wouldn’t result in any more time than Stacks is already facing — life in prison without the possibility of parole.

    Stacks thanked Albright for not citing him for contempt.

    “Don’t think I’m doing you a favor,” Albright quickly replied.

    And with that, Albright officially sentenced Stacks to spend the rest of his natural life behind prison walls. Stacks was taken immediately to Central Prison in Raleigh for processing.

    The sentencing Thursday afternoon was the culmination of nearly three weeks of often graphic and emotional testimony that detailed the abuse and killing of 2-year-old Jaxson Sonny Swain. On Thursday morning, Charles Stacks, 33, escaped a possible death sentence when a Forsyth County jury came back with a recommendation for life. Jurors deliberated several hours between late Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning.

    A verdict was announced just after 11 a.m. Thursday for life in prison, but when the jurors were polled, one of the jurors said she didn’t agree with the verdict. Albright sent the jury back for further deliberations. The jury came back with the same verdict about 20 minutes later and all jurors agreed with it when they were again individually polled.

    Michael J. Rush, the foreman of the jury, could not be reached for comment about what led to the jury’s recommendation for life after Thursday’s hearing. Jurors were discharged from service and left the courthouse immediately. The jury found the two aggravating factors and 10 of the 15 mitigating factors offered and unanimously determined that the aggravating factors did not outweigh the mitigating factors, resulting in the life sentence, according to the verdict sheet.

    The same jury took two and a half hours over two days to find Stacks guilty last week of first-degree murder, felony child abuse, inflicting serious bodily injury and felony possession of heroin.

    Forsyth County prosecutors alleged that on Aug. 16, 2015, Charles Stacks was alone at 5450 Grubbs St., a house they described as a drug den, taking care of Jaxson. Jaxson, his 7-year-old sister, Bella Swain, and their mother, Candace Swain, had been staying at the house the first two weeks of August 2015. Charles Stacks and Candace Swain were friends, and prosecutors said she was hooked on heroin and working as a prostitute to support her drug habit. Charles Stacks was her drug dealer and her pimp.

    Charles Stacks lived at the house with his wife, Megin Stacks, and their four children. Prosecutors said Charles Stacks had abused Jaxson during the child’s time at the house, including whipping him with a belt, burning cigarettes on his back and biting him. They also said Stacks placed a rubber band on Jaxson’s penis, causing it to swell and become red, to keep Jaxson from urinating on himself.

    Joshua Justice, a convicted felon who had a cell next door to Stacks in 2015 in Forsyth County Jail, testified Stacks confessed to grabbing Jaxson by the waist and slamming the boy, who weighed a little more than 30 pounds, several times on a surface. Charles Stacks told Justice that he became “demon-possessed.” He admitted to biting the child’s arm in a jail phone call to Megin Stacks.

    Jaxson had to have emergency surgery to remove part of his skull to relieve swelling in the brain. He died three days later on Aug. 19, 2016, at Brenner Children’s Hospital. An autopsy said the cause of death was bleeding on the brain caused by blunt-force trauma.

    When the jury’s recommendation was announced Thursday morning, Charles Stacks had no visible sign of emotion. Verna and Fred Stacks, his parents who adopted him when he was 16 days old, sat on the second row. Ball, one of Stacks’ attorneys, patted Stacks on the back after the verdict was read.

    Ball and Gerber declined to comment after the hearing Thursday morning and left immediately without comment after the sentencing hearing that afternoon. In court, Gerber gave notice of appeal.

    Candace Swain sat with Jaxson’s great-aunt, Mildred Dixson, and another family friend, as well as legal assistants from the Forsyth County District Attorney’s Office. After court was dismissed, Candace Swain cried as Martin returned some photos of Jaxson she had presented to Albright.

    Martin said neither Candace Swain or Jaxson’s father, Larry Sapp, could testify without breaking down into tears. That’s why they were not called to the witness stand, she said.

    Candace Swain has been sober since 2015 and working a legitimate job for the past two years, Martin said after the hearing. She lives with her daughter and Dixson, who is the legal guardian of Bella Swain.

    After the hearing, Martin said she respected the jury’s decision. “I’m thinking about Jaxson more than the defendant,” she said. “He would have been about 6 and finishing his first year of kindergarten.”

    Charles Stacks still faces pending charges of possession of firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a firearm with an altered serial number. Megin Stacks faces a felony charge of accessory after the fact to felony child abuse. She is accused of cleaning up the crime scene, putting a diaper on Jaxson and telling her children not to cooperate with law-enforcement officers and investigators with the Forsyth County Department of Social Services.

    No trial dates have been set on the pending charges against Charles and Megin Stacks.

    https://www.journalnow.com/news/crim...5a083b62a.html
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  7. #17
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    Winston-Salem man serving life for killing 2-year-old is appealing murder conviction.

    A Winston-Salem man serving a life sentence for the brutal murder of a 2-year-old boy is appealing his murder conviction.

    He claims in court papers that the judge should have declared a mistrial after a juror started applying for a volunteer position with a child-advocacy group. And he also claims that the judge should have made clear to the jury that a prosecutor misstated the law when she said in closing arguments that a presumption of innocence for the man vanished once a prosecution witness finished testifying.

    Charles Thomas Stacks, 35, was convicted by a Forsyth County jury in April 2019 of first-degree murder, felony child abuse, inflicting serious bodily injury, and heroin possession. Stacks faced a possible death sentence, but that same jury recommended that Stacks spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole, the only other sentence available for a defendant convicted of first-degree murder.

    Forsyth County prosecutors alleged during trial that Stacks brutally murdered 2-year-old Jaxson Swain. He was not the child's father but had been friends with Jaxson's mother, Candace Swain. Prosecutors said Stacks sold the mother drugs and had her work as a prostitute. On Aug. 16, 2015, Jaxson was found in a dry bathtub with bruises all over his body and bite marks. He died three days later on Aug. 19, 2015, of a traumatic brain injury.

    Lisa Miles, Stacks' appellate attorney, filed an official appeal with the N.C. Court of Appeals on Monday. She asks N.C. Court of Appeals to overturn Stacks' murder conviction.

    Chief Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Martin, whose closing argument comes under scrutiny in the appeal, declined to comment on Friday.

    Nils Gerber and Stephen Ball were Stacks' attorneys at trial. Miles claims the two attorneys were ineffective because they failed to request a mistrial after it was discovered that the juror applied for the volunteer position. Gerber said Friday that he has not seen the appeal and could not comment. He did note that the jury unanimously recommended life in prison for Stacks.

    Ball could not be reached for comment. The juror, Ashley Shaw, could not be reached for comment.

    In court papers, Miles said Judge Stuart Albright of Forsyth Superior Court held a hearing outside the presence of the jury where Fredrick Evans, a guardian ad litem attorney advocate, testified that information seeking volunteers for the program was placed in the jury pool room. The jury clerk gave permission for the materials to be in that room.

    Shaw, who eventually was selected as a juror, saw that information and started an application on March 25, 2019, the first day of jury selection, according to court documents. Evans became concerned because the guardian ad litem program was involved in the abuse and neglect investigation of Jaxson Swain. One of the program's employees sent Shaw an email on March 26, 2019, responding to Shaw's inquiry about the program. Another employee sent an email to Shaw, thanking her for her interest.

    Shaw, according to court papers, responded on April 12, 2019, four hours after the jury had reached a guilty verdict, saying that she was "definitely interested" and had seen the material about the program in the jury pool room. She mentioned that she was on a jury and asked if she would have to wait until after her jury duty to proceed with the application and training.

    Miles said Shaw applied for a child-advocacy program after she saw materials for that program in a jury pool room and then later reiterated her continued interest in the program, hours after finding Stacks guilty of murder.

    "It cannot be said that, at a trial involving the death of an abused child, Juror Shaw was the 'indifferent' juror required by the Sixth Amendment (of the U.S. Constitution)," Miles said in court papers.

    Albright made no effort to ask Shaw if she was still impartial, but simply concluded that she was based on her prior answers during jury selection, Miles said. That was an error on Albright's part, Miles argued, saying that he had no discretion at that point in declaring a mistrial, particularly since this was all discovered after Stacks was found guilty but before the jury was to consider whether he should get the death penalty.

    In addition, Albright also failed to provide a jury instruction about the presumption of innocence after Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Martin misstated the law during her closing argument.

    During closing arguments, Martin said this, according to court papers:

    "And you, 12 Members of the Jury, are going to be able to render a true and just verdict that you should not have any doubt. That presumption of innocence disappeared the minute Dr. (Daniel) Couture stepped off that witness stand ..."

    Dr. Daniel Couture is a neurosurgeon at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center who had to remove part of Jaxson's skull to relieve brain swelling. He testified that if Jaxson had lived, he would have had significant cognitive damage.

    Miles said Martin was wrong to say what she said. A defendant is considered innocent until a jury renders a verdict. Gerber and Ball objected, but Albright overruled the objection. Albright's failure to correct Martin's misstatement of the law to the jury was a prejudicial error, Miles argued.

    It will likely take months before the N.C. Court of Appeals issues a ruling.

    https://www.google.com/amp/s/journal...c1ad2.amp.html
    Thank you for the adventure - Axol

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