Smith's Criminal Case Compendium
Smith's Criminal Case Compendium
Table of Contents
Smith's Criminal Case Compendium
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This compendium includes significant criminal cases by the U.S. Supreme Court & N.C. appellate courts, Nov. 2008 – Present. Selected 4th Circuit cases also are included.
Jessica Smith prepared case summaries Nov. 2008-June 4, 2019; later summaries are prepared by other School staff.
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On writ of certiorari of a divided decision of the Court of Appeals, ___ N.C. App. ___, 811 S.E.2d 215 (2018), the court held that the defendant was not prejudiced by the trial court’s decision to allow the jury to review photographs in the jury room without the defendant’s consent. At trial at...
The court reversed State v. May, 230 N.C. App. 366 (2013), which had held that the trial court committed reversible error when charging a deadlocked jury. The court of appeals held that...
The court modified and affirmed a decision of the court of appeals in State v. Starr, 209 N.C. App. 106 (Jan. 4, 2011) ((1) although the trial judge did not explicitly state that he was denying, in his discretion, the jury's request to review testimony, the judge instructed the jurors...
In this sex offense and indecent liberties case where the defendant was ordered to enroll in lifetime SBM, the trial court did not plainly err with respect to an Allen charge, the defendant did not preserve his argument related to SBM, and the defendant received...
The defendant was indicted for taking indecent liberties with a child and went to trial. At trial, the jury heard testimony from the victim and the defendant. During deliberations, the jury asked to see a transcript of both witnesses’ testimony. The trial judge told the jury that “unlike...
The defendant was tried for armed robbery, conspiracy to commit armed robbery, and possession of a firearm by a person previously convicted of a felony. The trial was not over by Friday, and the trial judge called a weekend recess. The trial resumed on the following Monday, the jury convicted...
In this indecent liberties with a child case, although the trial court erred by failing to conduct the jury to the courtroom as required by G.S. 15A-1233 in response to its request to review certain evidence, the error was not prejudicial and the defendant failed to show an error of...
The court rejected the defendant’s argument that the trial court erred by giving a coercive instruction after the jury indicated that it was deadlocked. Concluding that the trial court’s instructions to continue deliberations were in accord with G.S. 15A-1235(b), the court disagreed. The jury...
No plain error occurred with respect to a supplemental jury instruction given by the trial court in response to the jury’s note that it was “stuck” during deliberations. The noted indicated that the jury was split 11 to 1. Neither party objected to the trial court’s suggestion to give the jury...
In this murder case, although the trial court erred by making comments prior to closing arguments suggesting to the jury that it would be futile to request to review witness testimony, the error was not prejudicial. The trial judge had stated:
When you go back and start...
The court rejected the defendant’s argument that the trial court committed plain error by requiring a jury to deliberate for an unreasonable length of time. Jury deliberations began at 2:15 pm. At 8:43 pm the jury sent a note indicating that it was deadlocked. Several minutes later, and with...
Although the trial court erred by failing to exercise discretion in connection with the jury’s request to review certain testimony, the defendant failed to show prejudice. In this armed robbery case, during deliberations the jury sent a note to the trial court requesting several items, including...
In this felony murder case, the trial court acted within its discretion by declining to answer a question from the deliberating jury. Robbery was the underlying felony for the felony murder charge. During deliberations, the jury sent a note with the following question: “Can this defendant be...
(1) In this murder and discharging a barreled weapon case in which the jury heard some evidence that the defendant was affiliated with a gang, the trial court did not deprive the defendant of his constitutional right to a fair and impartial jury by failing to question jurors about a note they...
The trial court did not violate G.S. 15A-1233 by providing a preemptive instruction that denied the jury an opportunity to make any evidentiary requests. The court concluded that no such preemptive instruction was given; the trial court instructed that although no transcript existed, it would...
In this felony breaking and entering and larceny case the trial court did not violate G.S. 15A-1234 when responding to a question by the deliberating jury. The defendant argued that the trial failed to afford counsel an opportunity to be heard before responding the jury’s question about the...
Where the trial court’s Allen charge was in substantial compliance with G.S. 15A-1235, no coercion of the verdict occurred. The defendant argued that because the Allen charge failed to instruct the jury in accordance with section G.S. 15A-1235(b)(3) that “a juror should not...
Distinguishing State v. Hockett, 309 N.C. 794, 800 (1983) (trial court erred by refusing to answer deliberating jury’s question), the court held that the trial court properly answered the jury’s question about the State’s proof regarding the weapon in a robbery charge.
The trial court did not coerce a verdict by instructing the jurors to continue deliberating after they three times indicated a deadlock. Although the trial court did not give an Allen instruction every time, G.S. 15A-1235 does not require the trial court to do so every time the jury...
(1) The trial court did not coerce a verdict by giving an Allen charge pursuant to G.S. 15A-1235. The jury sent the judge a note at 3:59 pm, after 70 minutes of deliberations, indicating that they were split 11-to-1 and that the one juror “will not change their mind.” The court rejected...
The trial court committed prejudicial error by failing to exercise discretion in responding to the deliberating jury’s request to review evidence. The trial court indicated that the requested information was “not in a form which can be presented to [the jury.]” The court found that this...
The court reversed and remanded for a new trial where the trial court failed to exercise its discretion regarding the jury’s request to review the victim’s testimony and the error was prejudicial. Responding to the jury’s request, the trial court stated, in part, “We can’t do that.” This...
The trial court did not impermissibly coerce a verdict. While deliberating, the jury asked to hear certain trial testimony again. The trial judge initially denied the request. After the jury indicated that it could not reach a verdict, the trial judge asked if it would be helpful to have the...
Although the trial court erred by sending exhibits to the jury deliberation room over objection of defense counsel, the error was not prejudicial. The deliberating jury asked to review a number of exhibits. After consulting with counsel outside of the presence of the jury the trial court...
(1) The trial court erred when it responded to the deliberating jury’s request to review evidence by sending the requested evidence back to the jury room instead of conducting the jury to the courtroom, as required by G.S. 15A-1233. The defendant however suffered no prejudice. (2) The trial...
The court rejected the defendant’s argument that the trial court’s instructions to the jury coerced a verdict. The jury retired to begin deliberations at 3:38 p.m. At 5:51 p.m., the trial judge brought the jury into the courtroom to inquire about its progress. The jury indicated that it had...
The trial court properly exercised its discretion when denying the jury’s request to review testimony. Although the trial court’s statements to the jury indicate it thought that a review of that testimony was not possible (statements that normally suggest a failure to exercise discretion), the...
The trial court violated G.S. 15A-1233 by responding to a jury request to review evidence and sending the evidence back to the jury room instead of bringing the jury into the courtroom. However, no prejudice resulted.
The trial court did not abuse its discretion by allowing the State to display an enhanced version (frame-by-frame presentation) of a video recording during closing argument and jury deliberations. The trial court correctly determined that the enhanced version was not new evidence since the...
The trial court did not abuse its discretion by refusing to declare a mistrial and instead allowing the jury to go home and return the next day to continue deliberating. The jury deliberated approximately 7 hours over the course of two days; at the end of the day, when asked whether they wished...
The trial court did not abuse its discretion by denying the jury’s request, made during deliberations, for a transcript of a witness’s testimony. The trial court expressly denied the request in its discretion; there is no requirement that the trial judge provide any further explanation to...
The bailiff’s delivery of an exhibit to the jury, with an instruction from the trial judge that it would need to be returned to the trial court did not prejudice the defendant, even though the trial court violated G.S. 15A-1233(a) by failing to bring the jury into the courtroom when the jury’s...
The trial court erred in not exercising its discretion when denying the jury’s request for transcripts of testimony of the victim and the defendant.