State v. Stroud, ___ N.C. App. ___, 797 S.E.2d 34 (Mar. 7, 2017)

Although the trial court erred by allowing the introduction of evidence regarding the defendant’s attempts to hire legal counsel prior to his arrest, the error did not rise to the level of plain error. On appeal, the defendant argued that admission of this testimony violated his Six Amendment rights. Although the court had “no difficulty” concluding that the evidence violated the defendant’s Sixth Amendment right to counsel and should not have been admitted, the error did not constitute plain error.