Case Summaries: N.C. Court of Appeals (May 7, 2025)

This post summarizes the published criminal opinions from the North Carolina Court of Appeals released on May 7, 2025. These summaries will be added to Smith’s Criminal Case Compendium, a free and searchable database of case summaries from 2008 to the present. Prosecutor’s statements during closing argument were not improper and did not comment on defendant’s choice not to testify. State v. Brown, COA24-500, ___ N.C. App. ___ (May 7, 2025). In this New Hanover County case, defendant appealed her convictions for felony breaking and entering, making a harassing phone call, and communicating threats, arguing several errors related to the State’s closing argument. The Court of Appeals disagreed, finding no error. In 2021, defendant and the victim were both romantically involved with the same man, leading to several incidents where defendant harassed the victim. In April of 2022, defendant entered the victim’s apartment while she was away, taking a laptop, TVs, and a handgun, and trashing the apartment. Afterwards, defendant sent the victim threatening texts, and when the victim called her number, defendant harassed her, and even called back after the victim hung up to communicate threats to her. At trial, defendant objected to two statements by the prosecutor during closing argument, but the trial court overruled the objections. The Court of Appeals first considered the two statements defense counsel objected to during closing, that defendant would likely still threaten the victim today, and an expression of opinion regarding the evidence. The court found no abuse of discretion allowing both statements, [...]