Rather, his complaint is that the entire charge against defendant should have been dismissed solely because Mrs. Davis did not testify. We find this argument to be without merit. Defendant has not been able to cite us to any case law affirmatively requiring the complaining witness or victim to testify at trial. None is cited because no such requirement exists. Countless scenarios exist in which the complaining witness or victim cannot testify, but the charges against a defendant have been allowed to proceed.
Every murder case involves such a situation.
A criminal assault case in which the victim is left comatose is another such situation. Accordingly, the mere fact that Mrs. Davis did not testify does not justify dismissal of thecharge for indecent exposure in her presence. If defendant had any specific complaints with alleged hearsay statements purportedly made by Mrs. Davis being received into evidence, defendant's proper avenue of appeal was to assign error to the trial court's admission of these statements, not to the trial court's failure to dismiss the underlying charge itself. Furthermore, we note that Mrs. Davis' testimony was not even needed to substantiate this charge. N.C. Gen. Stat.