State v. Carter
State v. Carter
Opinion of the Court
Defendant first assigns as error the trial court’s denial of her motion for judgment as of nonsuit. “Upon a motion for judgment as of nonsuit, the evidence must be considered by the court in the light most favorable to the State, all contradictions and discrepancies therein must be resolved in its favor and it must be given the benefit of every reasonable inference to be drawn from the evidence.” State v. Cutler, 271 N.C. 379, 382, 156 S.E. 2d 679, 681 (1967).
The material evidence offered by the State tended to establish the following:
The defendant lived in Gaston County with Mr. and Mrs. Roy Ledford, her sister and her sister’s husband. On 2 July 1971, Roy Ledford and several other persons traveled by truck to Tony’s Mobile Home Sales on Highway 29 West, broke into a mobile home located at this site, and removed a refrigerator, gas range, typewriter, sofa, lamp, and several chairs. After
This evidence, when viewed in the light most favorable to the State, constitutes the exercise of control over the stolen property and is sufficient to withstand defendant’s motion for judgment as of nonsuit and to support the verdict.
In her three remaining assignments of error the defendant asserts that the trial court erred in its instructions to the jury (1) in commenting on the defendant’s not offering any evidence without explaining in accordance with G.S. 8-54 that no presumption arises from defendant’s failure to testify, (2) in using the term “dishonest purpose” in the charge, and (3) in defining the offense of receiving stolen goods. That portion of the charge upon which the defendant’s first contention is based, in our opinion, does not amount to a comment by the court on defendant’s failure to testify. The court merely stated that the defendant did not offer any evidence and this statement simply served as a preface to the trial judge’s recapitulation of certain evidence brought out by the defendant on cross-examination of the State’s witnesses. Furthermore, assuming arguendo that the comment made by the judge was directed to defendant’s failure to testify, we are of the opinion that this instruction, although meager, meets minimum requirements and that defendant has failed to show any prejudicial error. The second and third challenges to the charge are lifted out of context and when the charge is considered contextually as a whole it is found to be fair and complete and free from prejudicial error.
No error.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.