Issue

Text messages—voluminous and un-redacted—admitted without limiting instruction—plain error analysis

Summary

Where defendant was convicted of second-degree murder–upon evidence that: the victim (a married co-worker with whom defendant had been engaged in a sexual affair and significant drug use) was found face-down in defendant's bedroom doorway, shot twice in the back and with a key to defendant's home lying nearby; defendant was the only person armed when the encounter that led to the victim's death began; and defendant's accounts of the encounter were materially inconsistent–defendant could not demonstrate that, but for the trial court's admission of voluminous and un-redacted text messages and photos, some sexually explicit, sent from defendant's phone to the victim and other persons, the jury probably would have returned a different verdict.

Summary from the North Carolina Reports digest (official subject index). Read the opinion →