Criminal Practice – Constitutional – Ineffective Assistance Claim – Confrontation Clause – Shell Casing Found 

According to a deputy’s testimony, when a murder victim’s family was cleaning up the room in which she had been fatally shot, a shell casing apparently fell out of some clothing. The family members’ out-of-court statements were not hearsay because they were not admitted for the truth of the matter asserted – the location of the shell casing – but to explain the deputy’s subsequent actions in returning to the scene and collecting the shell casing. Defense counsel’s failure to raise a Confrontation Clause issue did not constitute ineffective assistance. 

We find no error in defendant’s convictions for first-degree murder and first-degree sexual offense. 

State v. Roach (Lawyers Weekly No. 012-282-22, 12 pp.) (Fred Gore, J.) Appealed from Greene County Superior Court (Imelda Pate, J.) Daniel Mosteller for the state; James Glover for defendant. 2022-NCCOA-438