An unpublished opinion of the North Carolina Court of Appeals does not constitute 

controlling legal authority. Citation is disfavored, but may be permitted in accordance with 

the provisions of Rule 30(e)(3) of the North Carolina Rules of Appellate Procedure.

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF NORTH CAROLINA

No. COA14-964

Filed: 19 May 2015

Rowan County, No. 10CRS052393

STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA,

v.

STEVEN LEE ODOM, Defendant.

Appeal by defendant from judgments entered on or about 12 March 2014 by 

Judge Mark E. Klass in Superior Court, Rowan County. Heard in the Court of 

Appeals 3 February 2015.

Attorney General Roy A. Cooper, III, by Assistant Attorney General Mary Carla 

Babb, for the State.

W. Michael Spivey, for defendant-appellant.

STROUD, Judge.

Defendant appeals judgments convicting him of two counts of statutory 

rape/sex offense. We find no error.

I. Background
STATE V. ODOM

Opinion of the Court

- 2 -

The State’s evidence tended to show that in the summer of 2009 Jane1, who 

was 13, told her mother she had been hanging out with a man who was 21. Jane’s 

mother tried to find the man using a contact number in Jane’s cell phone and Jane’s 

MySpace and Facebook friends, and Jane’s mother found defendant’s name. Jane’s 

mother later found defendant on the sex offender registry. Jane’s mother asked 

defendant to stop hanging around with her daughter. At some point during the 

summer, Jane had oral sex and sexual intercourse with defendant. When defendant 

was eventually questioned by Detective Clint Mauldin of the Rowan County Sheriff’s 

Department he confessed to having oral sex and sexual intercourse with Jane. On or 

about 6 July 2010, defendant was indicted for statutory rape and statutory sex 

offense. A jury found defendant guilty of both offenses, and the trial court sentenced 

defendant. Defendant appeals. 

II. Evidence Defendant Was a Registered Sex Offender

Defendant contends the trial court erred in allowing in evidence that he was 

already a registered sex offender. Defendant admits that he did not properly preserve 

this error for appellate review at trial, and thus this issue should be reviewed for 

plain error.

[O]n plain error review, the defendant must first 

demonstrate that the trial court committed error, and next 

 

1 A pseudonym will be used to protect the identity of the minor involved.
STATE V. ODOM

Opinion of the Court

- 3 -

that absent the error, the jury probably would have 

reached a different result. So, if the defendant has failed 

to show that the purported error would have led to a 

different result, we need not consider whether an error was 

actually made.

State v. Larkin, ___ N.C. App. ___, ___, 764 S.E.2d 681, 685 (2014) (citation and 

quotation marks omitted), disc. review denied, ___ N.C. ___, 768 S.E.2d 841 (2015).

Evidence that defendant was a registered sex offender was introduced as part 

of Jane’s mother’s testimony explaining how she discovered who defendant was and 

why she asked him not to have further contact with Jane. But even if we were to 

assume that evidence that defendant was already a registered sex offender was 

admitted in error, defendant has failed to demonstrate that the jury probably would 

have reached a different result without this evidence. See id. Here, Jane testified 

that when she was 13 and defendant was 21, they had engaged in oral sex and 

intercourse. Detective Clint Mauldin also testified that defendant confessed to 

having oral sex and intercourse with Jane. Based upon the evidence before the jury,

we do not believe that admitting evidence that defendant was a registered sex 

offender “led to a different result[.]” Id. As such, this argument is overruled.

III. Motion for Mistrial

Defendant next contends that the trial court erred in denying his motion for 

mistrial based on the erroneously admitted evidence that he was a registered sex 

offender. 
STATE V. ODOM

Opinion of the Court

- 4 -

N.C. Gen. Stat. § 15A–1061 states, in pertinent part, that

upon motion of a defendant or with his 

concurrence the judge may declare a mistrial 

at any time during the trial. The judge must 

declare a mistrial upon the defendant’s 

motion if there occurs during the trial an error 

or legal defect in the proceedings, or conduct 

inside or outside the courtroom, resulting in 

substantial and irreparable prejudice to the 

defendant’s case.

. . . Our standard of review when examining a trial 

court’s denial of a motion for mistrial is abuse of discretion.

State v. Glenn, 221 N.C. App. 143, 152-53, 726 S.E.2d 185, 191 (2012) (citations, 

quotation marks, and brackets omitted). 

Considering the evidence presented by the State, including Jane’s testimony 

and a detective’s testimony of defendant’s confession, we do not believe admission 

that defendant was a registered sex offender resulted in “substantial and irreparable 

prejudice[,]” and thus we find no abuse of discretion. 

Id. This argument is overruled.

IV. Conclusion

For the foregoing reasons, we find no error.

NO ERROR.

Judges BRYANT and HUNTER, JR. concur.

Report per Rule 30(e).