State v. Patterson

PARKER, Judge.

Defendant was indicted in 1977 for the 9 April 1977 armed robbery of a Shoney’s Restaurant in Greensboro. Because the order for his arrest could not be served, the prosecutor entered a dismissal with leave of the charge against defendant on 4 October 1979. Defendant was eventually located in California, where he was arrested for the Greensboro offense in November 1988.

At trial, which began on 22 August 1989, the State’s case consisted of testimony from a number of witnesses, most of whom were put on to identify defendant as the perpetrator, and about two dozen exhibits. Thomas…