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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Contrary to the conclusion of the Court of Appeals below, the trial court did not err in this felony child abuse case under G.S. 14-318.4 by failing to instruct the jury that the term “sexual act” for purposes of the offense is the definition provided for the term in what is now Article 7B...
In case where the defendant was convicted of misdemeanor child abuse and contributing to the delinquency of a minor, the court reversed the opinion below, State v. Reed, ___ N.C. App. ___, 789 S.E.2d 703 (2016), for the reasons stated in the dissent. Considering the defendant’s evidence, along...
In this Mitchell County case, defendant appealed his conviction for felony child abuse inflicting serious bodily injury, arguing (1) error in denying his motion to dismiss, (2) plain error in failing to instruct the jury on the defense of accident, and (3) error in denying his requested jury...
In this Wake County case, defendant appealed his conviction for involuntary manslaughter, arguing error in the admission of evidence related to defendant’s prior acts of discipline under Rules 403 and 404(b). The Court of Appeals found no error.
In 2019, defendant lived with his then-...
In this Yadkin County case, two defendants, Defendant A and Defendant P, appealed their convictions for misdemeanor child abuse. Both defendants appealed trial court’s (1) denial of their motion to dismiss at the close of evidence and (2) denial of their motion to reopen voir dire of a...
The child victim in this case, “David,” died primarily as a result of blunt force abdominal injuries, with a number of other external and internal injuries as contributing factors. The state’s evidence indicated that the defendant abused David on several occasions during a two-month period...
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...
Finding itself bound by its prior decision in this felony child abuse case, the Court of Appeals rejected the defendant’s argument that the trial court committed plain error by improperly instructing the jury on the definition of the term “sexual act.” The defendant was charged under G.S. 14-318...
The evidence was sufficient to support the defendant’s convictions for misdemeanor child abuse. The charges asserted that the defendant used heroin in the presence of a child. The court rejected the defendant’s argument that the State was required to prove, through chemical analysis, that a...
In a case where the defendant was convicted of child abuse inflicting serious bodily injury under G.S. 14-318.4(a3), there was insufficient evidence that the victim experienced serious bodily injury. The victim, the defendant’s daughter, experienced a femur fracture that required surgery...
In this misdemeanor child abuse case, where the defendant hit his son with a paddle, the trial court committed reversible error with respect to the jury instructions. After the defendant paddled his 10-year-old son for refusing to eat at the family dinner table, the child experienced bruising...
Child-abuse under G.S. 14-318.4(a) requires that the defendant intentionally inflict serious physical injury on a child or intentionally commit an assault on the child which results in serious physical injury. These are two separate prongs and the State is not required to prove that the...
Because subarachnoid hemorrhaging constitutes “serious bodily injury,” the evidence was sufficient to convict the defendant of felonious child-abuse inflicting serious bodily injury under G.S. 14-318.4(a3). The court rejected the defendant’s argument that since the child did not actually suffer...
The evidence was sufficient to survive the defendant’s motion to dismiss a misdemeanor child abuse charge under G.S. 14-318.2(a). The case arose from an incident in which the defendant left her young child unattended in a vehicle on a cold day. The State proceeded on the theory that she had...
A defendant may be convicted of child abuse by sexual act under G.S. 14-318.4(a2) when the underlying sexual act is vaginal intercourse.
Digital penetration of the victim’s vagina can constitute a sexual act sufficient to support a charge of child abuse under G.S. 14-318.4(a2) (sexual act).