Case Summaries: N.C. Court of Appeals (July 20, 2021)

This post summarizes published criminal decisions from the North Carolina Court of Appeals released on July 20, 2021. As always, these summaries will be added to Smith’s Criminal Case Compendium, a free and searchable database of case summaries from 2008 to present. Defendant was a person providing “care and supervision” under the felony child abuse statute, G.S. 14-318.4, supporting his felony murder conviction for abuse that caused the child’s death. State v. Chambers, 2021-NCCOA-348 (July 20, 2021). The child victim in this case, “David,” died primarily as a result of blunt force abdominal injuries, with a number of other external and internal injuries as contributing factors. The state’s evidence indicated that the defendant abused David on several occasions during a two-month period, ultimately leading to the child’s death. The defendant was charged with first-degree murder based on causing the victim’s death in the course of committing felonious child abuse under G.S. 14-318.4(a), and was convicted at trial. On appeal, the defendant argued that there was insufficient evidence he was a “person providing care to or supervision of” the minor victim, as required for a conviction under G.S. 14-318.4(a), and therefore he could not be guilty of the underlying offense that supported the felony murder conviction. After the reviewing the state’s evidence, the appellate court disagreed. The defendant was romantically involved with “R.W.,” the victim’s mother, and he had recently moved in with R.W. and her children and slept at their house every weeknight. The defendant also helped potty train the children, [...]