Criminal Practice  –  Indictment Amendment – Insubstantial – Discharging a Firearm into Occupied Property – 9mm

Defendant was indicted for discharging a 9mm handgun into occupied property, and his defense was that no witness saw him using a 9mm handgun. Nevertheless, the trial court did not err when, during the trial, it allowed the state to delete “9mm” from the indictment’s allegations. A 9mm handgun was used in the crime charged and the evidence clearly demonstrates defendant’s involvement, if not as the shooter, then acting in concert with his companion.

We find no error in the trial court’s grant of the state’s motion to amend the indictment.

State v. Alston (Lawyers Weekly No. 012-450-20, 6 pp.) (Reuben Young, J.) Appealed from Orange County Superior Court (Rebecca Holt, J.) I. Faison Hicks for the state; Jarvis John Edgerton for defendant. N.C. App. Unpub.