State v. Walston (Lawyers Weekly No. 14-06-1196, 17 pp.) (Paul Newby, J.) (Robert Hunter, J., not participating) Appealed from Dare County Superior Court (Cy Grant, J.) On discretionary review from the Court of Appeals. N.C. S. Ct. Holding: Since being ...

Tagged with: Jury Instructions

State v. Turner (Lawyers Weekly No. 14-07-1082, 16 pp.) (Wanda Bryant, J.) Appealed from Catawba County Superior Court (Nathaniel Poovey, J.) N.C. App. Holding: Defendant was indicted for possession with intent to sell or deliver cocaine, but the trial court ...

Tagged with: Cocaine Possession Jury Instructions

Failure to hold a charge conference before jury instructions on sentencing can lead to a vacation of the sentence, according to a recent state Court of Appeals decision. In State v. Hill, Jerrod Hill was found guilty at trial of attempted ...

Tagged with: Aggravating Factors Jury Instructions sentencing

State v. Cameron Defendant testified that, after being pulled over by a male officer, she “took off” because she wanted a female officer. Thus, defendant admitted that she intended to elude a law enforcement officer. The trial court correctly denied her motion to dismiss.

Tagged with: Criminal Practice Intent Jury Instructions

Atkinson v. Carolina Radiology Consultants, P.A. Over plaintiff’s objection, the trial court instructed the jury, “Proximate cause is a cause in which a natural and continuous sequence produces a person’s injury and death and is a cause which a reasonable prudent health care provider could have foreseen would probably produce such injury and death.” Since this instruction would hold defendants responsible only where defendant Clark could have foreseen the exact injury ultimately suffered by plaintiff, the instruction was contrary to prior opinions of our Supreme Court.

Tagged with: Foreseeability Jury Instructions Medical Malpractice proximate cause Tort/Negligence Wrongful Death

Atkinson v. Carolina Radiology Consultants, P.A. Over plaintiff’s objection, the trial court instructed the jury, “Proximate cause is a cause in which a natural and continuous sequence produces a person’s injury and death and is a cause which a reasonable prudent health care provider could have foreseen would probably produce such injury and death.”

Tagged with: Foreseeability Jury Instructions Medical Malpractice proximate cause Tort/Negligence Wrongful Death

Carrington v. Depaoli Where plaintiff had age-related and congenital back conditions that pre-existed the parties’ accident, a jury instruction on peculiar susceptibility was warranted.

Tagged with: Jury Instructions personal injury Tort/Negligence

State v. Langley Based on his behaving like “a sober person” during the traffic stop 90 minutes before he blew a .09 in the breath test, defendant requested a modified instruction on the jury’s consideration of the breath test results.

Tagged with: Criminal Practice dwi Jury Instructions

State v. Perry Where (1) the evidence only supported a theory that defendant actually possessed a pistol, (2) the state told the jury that this case only involved constructive possession, and (3) the trial court charged the jury on both actual and constructive possession, the trial court’s failure to answer the jury’s subsequent questions about possession resulted in plain error.

Tagged with: Criminal Practice Jury Instructions Plain Error Weapon Possession

State v. Harris Where the jury instructions reiterated multiple times that the state must prove that defendant was the perpetrator of each of the crimes, the jury instructions substantively included an instruction regarding identity.

Tagged with: Criminal Practice Jury Instructions lesser included offense