State v. Meadows, 256 N.C. App. 124 (Oct. 17, 2017)

(1) In this drug case, the court rejected the defendant’s argument that she received ineffective assistance of counsel when defense counsel elicited damaging testimony from a law enforcement officer that a witness was “honest.” Declining to address whether counsel’s conduct constituted deficient performance, the court concluded that the ineffective assistance of counsel claim failed on the prejudice prong: there was no reasonable probability that in the absence of trial counsel’s alleged errors the results of the proceeding would have been different. 

(2) The defendant did not receive ineffective assistance of counsel when counsel failed to object to a law enforcement officer’s testimony that he felt that the defendant should be charged because she was as guilty as her husband. The court noted that because law enforcement officers may not express an opinion that they believe a defendant to be guilty, admission of the statement was error. However, the defendant failed to show prejudice and thus her ineffective assistance of counsel claim failed.