Case Summaries: N.C. Court of Appeals (Oct. 1, 2025)

This post summarizes the published criminal opinions from the Court of Appeals of North Carolina released on October 1, 2025. There was sufficient evidence of misdemeanor child abuse and contributing to the delinquency of a minor; the prosecutor’s statements during closing arguments about the facts of similar appellate cases were not improper; the prosecutor’s race-neutral reasons for striking jurors were not pretextual and survived the defendant’s Batson challenge. State v. Benton, No. COA25-92 (N.C. Ct. App. Oct. 1, 2025) (Tyson). In this Mecklenburg County case, the defendant was charged with misdemeanor child abuse and contributing to the delinquency of a minor after leaving her six-year-old daughter unattended in a park. Her daughter was alone long enough to walk over a mile from the park, where she was found by another woman who saw the girl standing near a city street talking to two men in a car. The defendant was convicted after a jury trial. On appeal, the defendant argued (1) that there was insufficient evidence of the crimes charged, (2) that the prosecutor made improper remarks at closing, and (3) that the trial court erred in denying her Batson motion. The court of appeals found no error. As to the sufficiency of the evidence, the court of appeals concluded that the evidence of both crimes was sufficient. The court noted that misdemeanor child abuse can be established by a parent creating or allowing to be created a substantial risk of physical injury to a child, and that prior cases have [...]