State v. Cole, 209 N.C. App. 84 (Jan. 4, 2011)

(1) The State presented sufficient evidence of accessory after the fact to a second-degree murder perpetrated by Stevons. After Stevons shot the victim, the defendant drove Stevons away from the scene. The victim later died. The court rejected the defendant’s argument that because he gave aid after the victim had been wounded but before the victim died, he did not know that Stevons had committed murder. It concluded that because the defendant knew that Stevons shot the victim at close range, a jury could reasonably infer that the defendant knew that the shot was fatal. (2) The State presented sufficient evidence of accessory after the fact to armed robbery when it showed both that an armed robbery occurred and that the defendant rendered aid after the crime was completed. The court rejected the defendant’s argument that the robbery was not complete until the defendant arrived at a safe place, concluding that a taking is complete once the thief succeeds in removing the stolen property from the victim’s possession. (3) Although a mere presence instruction may be appropriate for aiding and abetting or accessory before the fact, such an instruction is not proper for accessory after the fact and thus the trial judge did not err by declining to give this instruction.