State v. Walters

ELMORE, Judge.

Defendant was convicted of first degree murder based upon the felony murder doctrine, as well as the underlying felony, robbery with a dangerous weapon; he was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole. Defendant raises two assignments of error on appeal: (1) the trial court erred by admitting into evidence the prior unsworn testimony of Latashia Waters, and (2) the trial court erred by instructing the jury using North Carolina Pattern Jury Instruction 101.40 rather than the language of N.C.G.S. § 15A-1235.

Facts

On 6 January 1998, defendant shot Betty Oxendine during his…