State v. Sneed, 210 N.C. App. 622 (Apr. 5, 2011)

In a case in which the defendant was charged with, among other things, armed robbery and possession of a stolen handgun, no plain error occurred when the trial court admitted, under Rule 803(6) (records of regularly conducted activity) testimony that the National Crime Information Center ("NCIC") database indicated a gun with the same serial number as the one possessed by the defendant had been reported stolen in South Miami, Florida. The court rejected the defendant’s argument that the State failed to lay the necessary foundation for admission of the evidence. The defendant had argued that the State was required to present testimony from a custodian of records for NCIC that the information was regularly kept in the course of NCIC's business and that NCIC routinely makes such records in the course of conducting its business. The proper foundation was laid through the testimony of a local police officer who used the database in his regular course of business.