State v. Mathis, 258 N.C. App. 651 (Apr. 3, 2018)

Considering the merits of the defendant’s ineffective assistance of counsel claim on direct appeal from his conviction of felony assault, the court held that the defendant did not receive ineffective assistance of counsel when trial counsel consented to a mistrial at the first trial. Analyzing the claim under the Strickland attorney error standard, the court held that the defendant failed to show prejudice because the trial court did not abuse its discretion in declaring a mistrial due to manifest necessity. Thus, counsel’s failure to object “was not of any consequence.”