State v. Allen, 233 N.C. App. 507 (Apr. 15, 2014)

Considering the defendant’s ineffective assistance of counsel claim on appeal the court rejected his contention that counsel was ineffective by eliciting hearsay evidence that conflicted with his claim of self-defense, concluding that the evidence did not contradict this defense. It also rejected his contention that counsel was ineffective by failing to object to evidence that the defendant sold drugs on a prior occasion, concluding that even if this constituted deficient representation, there was no reasonable possibility that the error affected the outcome of the case. Finally, the court rejected the defendant’s contention that counsel was ineffective by failing to move to dismiss the charges at the close of the evidence, concluding that given the evidence there was no likelihood that the trial court would have granted the motion.