Smith's Criminal Case Compendium
Table of Contents
Criminal Procedure
Indictment & Pleading Issues
Arrest, Search, and Investigation
Criminal Offenses
Drug Offenses
State v. Brown, 211 N.C. App. 427 (May. 3, 2011)
aff’d, 365 N.C. 465 (Mar. 9, 2012)
In a case in which the defendant was charged with sexually assaulting his minor child, the court held that no plain error occurred when the trial judge admitted the victim’s prior statements that at the time in question the defendant sexually assaulted both her and her sister. The victim testified at trial that her sister was present when the assault occurred did not state that the sister was assaulted. Although the victim’s prior statements did not exactly mirror her in-court testimony, they did not contradict it and, in fact, the additional information strengthened and added credibility to her version of the events by explaining and expanding upon the sister’s presence during the incident.