State v. Phachoumphone, ___ N.C. App. ___, 810 S.E.2d 748 (Feb. 6, 2018)

In this child sexual assault case, although the trial court violated the procedural requirements of G.S. 15A-1225.1 by authorizing the victim’s testimony to be offered remotely without holding a recorded evidentiary hearing on the matter or entering an appropriate order supporting its decision to allow the State’s motion, the defendant was not entitled to relief. The defendant did not challenge the trial court’s ultimate decision allowing the victim to testify remotely; he challenged only the procedure employed in authorizing her remote testimony. The court agreed that the trial court erred by failing to follow statutory procedure. However, for reasons detailed in the court’s opinion, it rejected the defendant’s challenge on the basis that he failed to demonstrate that he was prejudiced by these procedural errors.