IN THE SUPREME COURT OF NORTH CAROLINA No. 38A14 STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA v. JOSHUA ANDREW STEPP Filed 23 January 2015

Appeal pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 7A-30(2) from the decision of a divided panel of the Court of Appeals, ___ N.C. App. ___, 753 S.E.2d 485 (2014), reversing a judgment entered on 13 September 2011 by Judge W. Osmond Smith, III in Superior Court, Wake County and ordering that defendant receive a new trial.

Heard in the Supreme Court on 12 January 2015.

Roy Cooper, Attorney General, by Anne M. Middleton and Sherri Horner Lawrence, Assistant Attorneys General, for the State-appellant.

Staples S. Hughes, Appellate Defender, by Barbara S. Blackman, Assistant Appellate Defender, for defendant-appellee.

PER CURIAM.

For the reasons stated in the dissenting opinion, the decision of the Court of Appeals is reversed.

REVERSED.