Smith's Criminal Case Compendium
Smith's Criminal Case Compendium
Table of Contents
Smith's Criminal Case Compendium
About
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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In this Wake County case, the Supreme Court affirmed per curiam the unpublished Court of Appeals opinion State v. Johnson, COA19-529-2, 275 N.C. App. 980 (table), 2020 WL 7974001 (Dec. 31, 2020). Previously, the...
In this Durham County case, the Supreme Court modified and affirmed the Court of Appeals decision finding no plain error when admitting testimony regarding the strength of the state’s principal witness.
In 2016, defendant was indicted for murder and related charges for the death of his...
Defendant was convicted of three counts of indecent liberties with a child for sexually abusing M.C., the seven-year-old daughter of his then-romantic-partner. The abuse was discovered after M.C.’s sister was born with illegal drugs in her system, prompting the involvement of the Forsyth...
The defendant was indicted for three incidents of sexual abuse against his step-daughter and went to trial. The victim testified at trial about the abuse, and eight other witnesses testified regarding the investigation and corroboration of the victim’s testimony. One of the state’s...
In this Moore County case, the defendant was convicted of first-degree rape and sex offense, crime against nature, possession of firearm by felon, communicating threats and various assaults stemming from attacks on his estranged then-wife. On appeal, the defendant argued that the trial court...
The defendant was convicted by a jury of two counts of statutory sexual offense with a child by an adult and one count of first-degree kidnapping based on his repeated sexual assaults of his seven-year-old niece. The trial court sentenced the defendant to prison and ordered him to enroll in...
The court reversed the opinion below, State v. Taylor, 238 N.C. App. 159 (Dec. 16, 2014), for the reasons stated in the dissenting opinion. Over a dissent, the court of appeals had held that the trial court committed plain error by permitting a Detective to testify that she moved...
In this Vance County case, defendant appealed his convictions for attempted first-degree sexual offense with a child, statutory rape of a child, and indecent liberties with a child, arguing error in the denial of his motion to dismiss and the admission of testimony from several witnesses,...
(1) In this Montgomery County case, the defendant was convicted of indecent liberties with a child and attaining the status of habitual felon. (1) The defendant argued on appeal that the indecent liberties indictment was fatally defective because it identified the alleged victim only by her...
The defendant appealed from his convictions for first degree rape, first degree sexual offense, and taking indecent liberties with a child. The defendant also challenged a civil order requiring lifetime SBM. Defendant was charged with first degree rape of a child, first degree sex offense...
The defendant was convicted of indecent liberties with a child and felony child abuse by sexual act based on crimes committed against his daughter and stepdaughter.
(1) The court of appeals determined that the trial court did not plainly err in instructing the jury on felonious child...
The defendant was convicted by a jury of seven sex crimes against a five-year-old victim, including statutory rape of a child by an adult, statutory sexual offense with a child by an adult, and indecent liberties with a child. At trial, the State presented a nurse practitioner who testified...
(1) In this indecent liberties with a child case, the court rejected the defendant’s argument that the trial court committed plain error by allowing the victim’s mother to vouch for the victim’s credibility. An individual informed the victim’s mother that the victim said that the defendant had...
In this indecent liberties with a child case, the court rejected the defendant’s argument that a nurse’s opinion testimony improperly vouched for the victim’s credibility. In the relevant portion of her testimony, the nurse stated that erythema that she observed on the victim’s privates was...
(1) In this child sexual assault case, the trial court did not err by admitting an assessment in a report by the State’s medical expert, Dr. Thomas, of “Child sexual abuse.” Thomas testified to general characteristics of abused children. She did not offer an opinion that the victim had been...
In this child abuse case, the expert witness’s testimony did not constitute improper vouching for the victim. At trial Holly Warner, a nurse practitioner, testified as an expert. Warner had evaluated the victim after he was placed in foster care. At trial she related what the victim told her...
In this case involving armed robbery and other charges, the trial court erred by allowing an officer to testify that when the victim provided a statement he “seemed truthful.” The error however did not rise to the level of plain error. At trial, the prosecutor asked the officer to describe the...
The trial court did not err by denying the defendant’s motion to redact an officer’s statements in a transcript of an interview of the defendant in which the officer accused the defendant of telling a “lie” and giving an account of the events that was “bullshit” and like “the shit you see in the...
In a child sex case, the trial court erred by admitting a DSS social worker’s testimony that she “substantiated” the victim’s claim of sexual abuse by the defendant. This testimony was an impermissible expression of opinion as to the victim’s credibility.
In a child sexual assault case, the court held that even assuming that the State’s medical expert’s testimony regarding “secondary gain” improperly vouched for the victim’s credibility, the error did not rise to the level of plain error.
In a sexual exploitation of a minor and indecent liberties case, the court rejected the defendant’s argument that a testifying detective’s statement that the defendant’s explanation of the events was not consistent with photographic evidence constituted an improper opinion as to credibility of a...