Smith's Criminal Case Compendium
Table of Contents
Criminal Procedure
Indictment & Pleading Issues
Arrest, Search, and Investigation
Criminal Offenses
Drug Offenses
State v. Mendoza, ___ N.C. App. ___, 794 S.E.2d 828 (Dec. 6, 2016)
In this child sexual assault case, even if the trial court erred by denying the defendant’s request to admit into evidence three letters to the editor written by the State’s expert witness and published in a newspaper 10 years before the expert’s interview with the child in question, the error was not prejudicial. The defendant contended that the letter showed possible bias or prejudice in child advocacy matters and that he should have been permitted to cross-examine the expert about their content. The court determined however that the defendant had failed to demonstrate a reasonable possibility that a different result at trial would have occurred if the letters have been admitted.