State v. Keyes

EAGLES, Judge.

Defendants assign as error the trial court’s denial of defendants’ motions to dismiss at the end of the evidence. We agree that the trial court erred.

To withstand a motion to dismiss for insufficiency of the evidence, there must be substantial evidence of all material elements of the offense charged. G.S. 15A-1227; State v. Murphy, 49 N.C. App. 443, 271 S.E. 2d 573 (1980). Whether the State offered substantial evidence of all the material elements is a question of law for the trial judge. In ruling on a motion for dismissal, the trial judge must consider the evidence in the…