Encounters with Lions: Evidence of Gang Affiliation in State v. Ervin

A defendant who claims self-defense is generally permitted to offer evidence of the victim’s prior violent conduct if known to the defendant at the time defensive force was used. Such evidence is relevant to the reasonableness of the defendant’s belief in the need to use force. In State v. Ervin, No. COA24-650 (N.C. Ct. App. April 2, 2025), the trial court excluded as irrelevant and unduly prejudicial evidence offered by the defendant to show his state of mind at the time he killed his girlfriend’s brother, namely, evidence that the victim was in a gang. The Court of Appeals found no error, stating that evidence the defendant feared for his life because the victim was in a gang “does little to support his theory of self-defense.” This post examines the opinion in Ervin. Character Evidence Evidence Rule 404 “governs the content of admissible character evidence and the contexts in which it may be admitted.” State v. Walston, 367 N.C. 721, 725 (2014). Under that rule, evidence of a person’s character is generally inadmissible for the purpose of proving he acted in conformity therewith on a particular occasion, but there are exceptions. G.S. 8C-1, Rule 404(a). One exception allows a defendant in a criminal case to offer evidence of a pertinent trait of character of the victim. Id. “[T]o be pertinent, a character trait of the victim must bear a relationship to the crime with which the defendant is charged. For example, if the defendant’s defense to murder is self-defense, character of [...]