State v. Charleston, ___ N.C. App. ___, 789 S.E.2d 513 (Aug. 2, 2016)

(1) The trial court did not err by denying the defendant’s motion to dismiss a charge of discharging a firearm into occupied property. The trial court improperly instructed the jury that it had to find that the defendant knew or had reasonable grounds to believe that the dwelling was occupied; this instruction raised the evidentiary bar for the State, as this offense only requires proof that the defendant had reasonable grounds to believe that the building might be occupied. The court rejected the defendant’s argument that the State was bound by the higher standard stated in the jury instruction. Evidence that the shooting occurred in a residential neighborhood in the evening and resident’s car was parked outside of her home sufficiently established that the defendant knew or had reasonable grounds to believe that the dwelling might be occupied. (2) The court rejected the defendant’s argument that the trial court’s jury instruction on discharging a firearm into occupied property was an improper disjunctive instruction. The defendant was indicted for firing into the home of Ms. Knox. At trial, all the evidence pertains to Knox’s home. The trial court’s jury instruction referred to discharging a firearm “into a dwelling,” without specifying Knox’s home. The jury instruction was not phrased in the disjunctive nor did it have “the practical effect of disjunctive instruction,” as argued by the defendant.