Case Summaries -- North Carolina Court of Appeals (August 4, 2020)

This post summarizes opinions issued by the Court of Appeals of North Carolina on August 4, 2020. (1) Trial court did not commit plain error in instructing the jury regarding the charges of felonious child abuse by sexual act based on the pattern jury instruction providing a broader definition of sexual act than applies to offenses under Article 7B of Chapter 14; (2) Trial court did not commit plain error by failing to strike testimony from forensic interviewer that child made a tentative rather than a full disclosure; (3) Trial court did not commit a clerical error in sentencing the defendant to a maximum sentence that was calculated based on the minimum term actually imposed. State v. Wohlers, ___ N.C. App. ___, ___ S.E.2d ____ (August 4, 2020). The defendant was convicted of indecent liberties with a child and felony child abuse by sexual act based on crimes committed against his daughter and stepdaughter. He raised three arguments on appeal:  (1) the trial court plainly erred by instructing the jury on felonious child abuse by sexual act; (2) the trial court plainly erred in permitting testimony from a forensic interviewer about the nature of his stepdaughter’s disclosure; and (3) that the trial court erred in calculating the maximum term of imprisonment. (1) The court of appeals determined that the trial court did not plainly err in instructing the jury on felonious child abuse by sexual act. G.S. 14-318.4(a2) provides that any parent or legal guardian of a child under 16 who [...]