Smith's Criminal Case Compendium
Table of Contents
State v. Yarborough, ___ N.C. App. ___, ___ S.E.2d ___ (Apr. 21, 2020)
The defendant was convicted after a jury trial of first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, and other serious felony charges after he shot and killed his former girlfriend and then pistol-whipped and fired a gun at another woman, a registered nurse. On appeal he argued that the that the trial court erred by joining the charges for trial. The defendant had objected to the State’s motion for joinder, but he never filed a motion to sever charges as provided in G.S. 15A-927. The Court of Appeals concluded that the defendant waived the issue, declined to review the issue in its discretion under Rule 2 of the Rules of Appellate Procedure, and further declined to consider whether he received ineffective assistance of counsel for his trial lawyer’s failure to file a motion to sever charges. The Court of Appeals deemed the latter issue more appropriate for a motion for appropriate relief filed in the trial court, and so dismissed that claim without prejudice.