Case Summaries: N.C. Court of Appeals (Dec. 5, 2023)

This post summarizes the published criminal opinions from the North Carolina Court of Appeals released on December 5, 2023. These summaries will be added to Smith’s Criminal Case Compendium, a free and searchable database of case summaries from 2008 to the present. No error in trial court’s denial of Batson objection; motion for mistrial properly denied where juror inadvertently discovered information regarding the murder of a witness. State v. Dixon, COA21-471, ___ N.C. App. ___ (Dec. 5, 2023). In this Buncombe County case, defendant appealed his convictions for first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, and malicious maiming, arguing error in overruling his Batson objection and denying his motions for mistrial. The Court of Appeals found no prejudicial error. During voir dire for defendant’s trial in June of 2019, the State used a peremptory strike on a black potential juror who expressed reservations about the death penalty. Defendant raised a Batson objection, and the trial court conducted the three-step analysis (this exchange is reproduced on pages 6-11 of the opinion). The trial court found that there had not been a sufficient showing of race as a motivating factor in the third step of the Batson analysis, overruling the objection. After the denial but during the trial, one of the State’s witnesses was killed. One juror learned of the killing through a press release issued by the DA’s office, and was excused for cause. Defendant moved for a mistrial, and the motion was denied. After the verdict, defendant learned another juror had heard of [...]