NC Criminal Law
This post summarizes the published criminal opinions from the North Carolina Court of Appeals released on March 19, 2025. These summaries will be added to Smith’s Criminal Case Compendium, a free and searchable database of case summaries from 2008 to the present.
State’s questions regarding defendant’s failure to give a statement did not represent plain error; closing argument reference to defendant’s...
Venue to try an accessory after the fact is proper in any county where the principal could be prosecuted or in the county where the defendant committed acts that form the basis of the charge of accessory after the fact.
Venue is proper in the entire district of the alleged offense, not just the particular county where the offense allegedly occurred. See G.S. 15A-131(b). Probable cause hearings are an exception and must be held in the county where the offense occurred. See G.S. 15a-131(c).
Language in an indictment or other criminal pleading that is unnecessary (“surplusage”) does not prohibit the state from proving theories or facts of the charged crime that are different from those alleged in the indictment.
If a search warrant validly describes the premises to be searched, a car located on the premises may be searched even though the warrant contains no description of the car. State v. Courtright, 60 N.C. App. 247, 249 (1983).
Prosecution of the defendant for an infraction will bar a subsequent prosecution for a more serious offense arising out of the same conduct.