State v. Bynum

WHICHARD, Judge.

Guilt Phase

Defendant contends the court erred in denying his request for an instruction that identity of the contraband as heroin was an element of the offense which the State was required to prove beyond a reasonable doubt. The request was made orally at the end of the charge in response to the court’s inquiry regarding objections or further requests for instructions. It thus was not timely, and whether to grant it was for the court’s discretion. G.S. 15A-1231(a); State v. Coward, 296 N.C. 719, 725, 252 S.E. 2d 712, 716 (1979). The court had instructed on the substance of the…