State v. Planter

ORR, Judge.

Defendant first assigns error to the trial court’s denial of his motions for a directed verdict on the charge of first-degree burglary. On appeal, he contends the State’s evidence failed to establish he entered the motel room with the intent to commit rape, and thus, as a matter of law, was insufficient to sustain his first-degree burglary conviction.

The evidence presented to support a conviction must be substantial, State v. Smith, 40 N.C. App. 72, 252 S.E. 2d 535 (1979), and “must be sufficient to convince a rational finder of fact of the existence of each essential element [of…