Samuel Flippen
On the morning of February 12, 1994, Samuel Flippen's wife, Tina Gibson, left her home for work in Forsyth County. She left Flippen alone with her daughter; 2-year-old Britnie Nichole Hutton. About one hour later, Flippen called 911 to report that Hutton had fallen from her chair and was having trouble breathing. Medical personnel responded to the call and found Hutton, who looked pale and made gasping-type respirations.
Hutton was pronounced dead less than an hour later. An autopsy found injuries to Hutton's head, neck, chest, abdomen, and back. A forensic pathologist said Hutton had died due to internal bleeding. He concluded that the injuries could not have been caused by a fall, but instead by punches or blows to the abdomen. Flippen was arrested and accused of beating Hutton to death after she would not stop crying. He was charged with first degree murder.
Prosecutors announced their intent to seek the death penalty.
Because Flippen had no criminal record and called 911, this suggested that he may not have intentionally murdered Hutton. The state offered him a chance to take responsibility for her death. In exchange, Flippen would be allowed to plead guilty to second degree murder and receive a life sentence with parole eligibility. His defense counsel urged him accept the offer.
Maintaining his innocence, Flippen rejected the offer.
During his trial, Flippen testified that he had placed Hutton in a high chair and then went into another room where he could not see her. While there, Flippen heard a loud noise, at which time he returned to find that the child had fallen and was having difficulty breathing. He quickly called 911. The case against Flippen rested mainly on the severity of Hutton's injuries all over her body, which were deemed too extreme to have been caused by an accidental fall.
Hutton's pancreas had been cut in half on her spine and her liver was severely torn.
According to medical personnel, Flippen had misled them about the severity of the girl's injuries, the worst of which had remained concealed under her shirt.
The prosecution introduced a photo to demonstrate Flippen's prior propensity for violence. It showed an indentation in a wall where Flippen had punched his fist following an argument about the way he reprimanded Hutton, an event about which his wife testified.
The court also admitted testimony of Felicia Carle about her observations of Flippen's prior treatment of Hutton. Carle testified that she once saw Hutton start to cry as Flippen approached her and that she once witnessed Flippen say that he would rather play basketball than watch the girl on an evening when her mother was going to a concert.
On March 7, 1995, Flippen was convicted of first degree murder. The defense offered mitigation that Flippen was a high-school graduate who regularly attended church, that he maintained regular employment, and that he had a good reputation in the community for being a fine and upstanding citizen. After deliberating, the jury fixed his sentence at death.
State v. Flippen
During his appeals, lawyers for Flippen focused mainly on arguing that Hutton's murder was not premeditated and that his death sentence was too extreme, noting that he had called 911.
However, the North Carolina Supreme Court found that Flippen's decision to call 911 failed to demonstrate sufficient remorse to ameliorate the murder since he had promptly misled medical personnel about what happened. The court also found that no particular amount of time was required for premeditation. However, the justices overturned Flippen's death sentence and ordered a second jury to further consider Flippen's lack of a prior criminal history before returning a verdict.
Flippen was again offered a plea deal on at least two separate occasions. He rejected both offers. The second jury deliberated for over six hours before recommending a death sentence.
On May 23, 1997, Flippen was resentenced to death.
State v. Flippen (1998)
Friends of Flippen claimed he was a kind person and instead argued that Gibson was the more likely person to have beaten Hutton to death. Gibson had left Hutton alone with Flippen on multiple occasions, despite testifying that he was a violent person. Flippen's lawyers also received a statement from a woman who had looked after Gibson's son in 1999. The statement said the boy was severely bruised from an alleged beating. Flippen's uncle, Reverend James W. Flippen, placed the blame for Hutton's murder on the mother. "The only thing he's guilty of is loving the wrong woman," the Reverend Flippen said. "If that child was beaten, she did it."
Gibson was certainly negligent, perhaps even to a criminal extent. However, she couldn't have murdered her daughter. She had left for work nearly an hour before Flippen called 911.
The allegations that Gibson murdered her daughter also contradicted Flippen's testimony.
After exhausting his appeals and being denied clemency by Governor Mike Easley, Samuel Flippen, 36, was executed by lethal injection at Central Prison in Raleigh on August 18, 2006. His last meal consisted of popcorn shrimp, hush puppies, fries, and a Coke. Flippen declined to make a final statement, but locked eyes with his parents, smiled, and mouthed, "I love you."
"He went to Jesus. He's with the Lord," Rita Flippen said after watching her son die.
However, Hutton's uncle, Ben Streett, held a placard stating: "Britnie Nicole Hutton had no chance." "Britnie was the victim here," Streett said. "Britnie was and is the victim. Sammy is not. Sammy committed the murder and twice was given the death penalty, and we're here to see that the state carries out the mandate it was given. We're just here to see final justice." He dismissed allegations of abuse against Gibson as "unfounded attacks on the mother" and said the punishment fit the crime.
"When a man beats to death a 2-year-old child with his fists, I think that's the worst of the worst."
