State v. . Woolard

Among the errors assigned by defendant on this appeal the one directed to the remarks made by the presiding judge in the course of the trial and in the presence of the jury as above recited, is well taken and must be held to be prejudicial error. The apparent effect of these remarks is twofold: (1) They tend to invoke sympathy for the prosecuting witness, and thereby bolster her testimony; and (2) they tend to impair the effect of defendant’s plea of not guilty. Thus they constitute a violation of the provisions of G. S., 1-180, forbidding a judge to express to the jury his opinion on facts…