During voir dire, Kori stated she would tell the truth, but then seemed confused and said it was not good to tell the truth. Thereafter, the prosecutor asked additional questions to determine whether Kori knew what it meant to tell the truth. The prosecutor asked Kori if it was true to say her blue dress was red, and she responded that it was not the truth. Thus, the trial court was correct when it concluded that Kori was competent to testify. The sheriff's office paged Reverend Knight to come to the jail to counsel defendant.
Defendant contends the admission of the testimony was plain error.
The plain error rule requires defendant to show that he would not have been convicted if the error had not been made or that a miscarriage of justice would result if the error is not corrected. In the instant case, defendant has not met his burden. Our Supreme Court has held that the wording of N.C. Gen. Stat. In West , the minister was a personal friend of defendant and initiated contact with defendant instead of defendant seeking the advice of the minister. Thus, the Supreme Court concluded the privilege did not apply.