Court Opinion

ID: 8908030
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2022-11-27 02:10:40.020991+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:08:20.817645
License: Public Domain

Judge BECTON
dissenting.
Believing that the trial judge committed “plain error” by failing to instruct the jury on the right of defendant to use force in self-defense without retreating because he was in his own home, I dissent. See State v. Odom, 307 N.C. 655, 300 S.E. 2d 375 (1983). That the error prejudicially affected substantial rights of the defendant is buttressed by my belief that this is a close case on all issues, especially the issues involving whether defendant was the aggressor and the court’s obvious misstatement that Mike Wilson, the victim, “saw James Lilley [the defendant] holding a gun pointed in her direction” (referring to Wilson’s sister).