State v. Green Although defendant did not touch the victim, when he ordered her – at gunpoint – to undress and to insert her own fingers into her vagina, defendant participated in the action by directing the victim. Given that the text of our statutes does not explicitly exclude instances such as the one in this case and the persuasive trend in other courts is to recognize coerced self-penetration as a sexual offense, we hold that the act of forcing a victim to self-penetrate constitutes “engag[ing] in a sexual act ... with another person ... and against the will of the other person.” G.S. § 14-27.4(a).

Tagged with: Serious Injury

State v. Ross At the probable cause hearing, defendant was represented by counsel (who was one of his trial counsel), he had the same motive to cross-examine victim Besies as at trial, and his counsel did in fact cross-examine Besies; therefore, defendant had an adequate opportunity to cross-examine Besies. Since Besies was unavailable to testify at trial, the trial court did not violate defendant’s right to confront the witnesses against him when the court admitted Besies’ testimony from the probable cause hearing into evidence.

Tagged with: Aggravating Factors Attempted Murder Confrontation clause Constitutional Criminal Practice Intent to Kill sentencing Serious Injury

State v. McLean. (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-07-0413, 18 pp.) (Cheri Beasley, J.) Appealed from Wayne County Superior Court. (Walter H. Godwin Jr., J.) N.C. App. Click here for the full text of the opinion. Holding: Even assuming arguendo that transportation ...

Tagged with: Assault Criminal Practice Serious Injury Wayne County

State v. Smith. (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-07-0281, 12 pp.) (Linda M. McGee, J.) Appealed from Wake County Superior Court. (Ripley E. Rand, J.) N.C. App. Click here for the full text of the opinion. Holding: The trial court ordered defendant ...

Tagged with: Criminal Practice Insufficient Evidence restitution sentencing Serious Injury Wake County