State v. Tucker, 227 N.C. App. 627 (Jun. 4, 2013)

The trial court did not err by allowing the State to amend an embezzlement indictment. The indictment originally alleged that “the defendant . . . was the employee of MBM Moving Systems, LLC . . . .” The amendment added the words “or agent” after the word “employee.” The court rejected the defendant’s argument that the nature of his relationship to the victim was critical to the charge and thus that the amendment substantially altered the charge. The court held that the terms “employee” and “agent” “are essentially interchangeable” for purposes of this offense. The court noted that the defendant was not misled or surprised as to the charges against him.