State v. Davis, ___ N.C. App. ___, 828 S.E.2d 570 (May. 21, 2019)

In this sexual assault case, no plain error occurred when the trial court referred to the complaining witness as “the victim” in the jury instructions. It is well-settled that when a judge properly places the burden of proof on the State, referring to the complaining witness as “the victim” does not constitute plain error. The court noted however that the best practice is for the trial court to modify the pattern jury instructions at the defendant’s request to use the phrase “alleged victim” or “prosecuting witness” instead of “victim.” Here however the defendant did not request such a change and the trial court properly placed the burden of proof on the State.