State v. Cagle, ___ N.C. App. ___, 830 S.E.2d 893 (Jul. 2, 2019)

The trial court did not err in this murder case by failing to intervene ex mero motu to strike prosecutor’s comments during closing arguments. Citing case precedent, the court held that neither the prosecutor’s characterization of the defendant as “evil” nor a brief reference to the defense experts as “hacks” were so grossly improper that the judge erred by failing to intervene ex mero motu during the closing argument.