Case Summaries - N.C. Court of Appeals (Mar. 3, 2020)

This post summarizes cases from the North Carolina Court of Appeals from March 3, 2020. There was sufficient evidence that the defendant acted with “deceit and intent to defraud” in this common law obstruction of justice case such that the offense was punishable as a felony rather than a misdemeanor State v. Ditenhafer, ___ N.C. App. ___, ___ S.E.2d ___ (Mar. 3, 2020).  Over a dissent, the court held that there was sufficient evidence in this common law obstruction of justice case that the defendant’s obstructive acts were done “with deceit and intent to defraud” such that under G.S. 14-3(b) the offense was punishable as a felony rather than as a misdemeanor.  The defendant was told by another family member that the defendant’s daughter was the victim of sexual abuse by the defendant’s husband, who was the daughter’s adoptive stepfather.  The State’s evidence showed that despite believing that abuse had occurred, the defendant engaged in a course of conduct whereby she denied child protective services and sheriff’s department investigators access to her daughter and otherwise frustrated their investigation.  The defendant intervened in the investigation by remaining within hearing distance or being present during “almost every interview” investigators conducted with her daughter, not permitting her daughter to answer certain questions and answering for her during one interview, sending text messages to her daughter and physically interrupting another interview, “constantly” influencing her daughter’s statements in interviews by verbally abusing and punishing her, instructing her daughter not to speak with investigators, and directing investigators [...]