Smith's Criminal Case Compendium
Table of Contents
Evidence
Arrest, Search, and Investigation
Criminal Offenses
Drug Offenses
State v. Coakley, 238 N.C. App. 480 (Dec. 31, 2014)
In this malicious maiming case, the trial court did not err by instructing the jury on a theory that was not alleged in the indictment. The indictment alleged that the defendant “put out” the victim’s eye. The jury instructions told the jury it could convict if it found that the defendant “disabled or put out” the victim’s eye. Given the evidence in the case—that the victim suffered complete blindness—term “disabled” as used in the instructions can only be interpreted to mean total loss of sight.