Case Summaries -- N.C. Supreme Court (September 25, 2020)

This post summarizes opinions issued by the North Carolina Supreme Court on September 25, 2020. The trial court committed prejudicial error by refusing to give the defendant’s requested instruction on self-defense and the doctrine of transferred intent with respect to felony murder and an underlying assault charge State v. Greenfield, ___ N.C. ___, ___ S.E.2d ___ (Sept. 25, 2020).  In this felony murder case based on the underlying felony of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury, the trial court erred by not instructing the jury on self-defense and the doctrine of transferred intent.  The evidence at trial showed that the defendant and a friend arrived at the apartment of Beth and Jon intending to buy marijuana from Jon.  By the time the defendant and his friend left the apartment, Jon, Beth, and the defendant had been shot.  Jon died as a result.  The defendant testified that while in the apartment living room, he picked up a gun he found on a coffee table because “it looked cool,” which caused Jon to become aggressive and Beth to emerge from a bedroom pointing a gun at the defendant.  After convincing Beth to drop her weapon by threatening to kill Jon, the defendant testified that he ran from the apartment, saw Jon pull a gun, and felt himself be shot in the side.  This caused the defendant to shoot in Jon’s direction “as best as [he] could” and “intentionally” at him.  The court explained that this testimony taken [...]