State v. Jeune

FRYE, Justice.

Defendant, Charles Wilson Jeune, was convicted by a Lincoln County jury of first-degree rape and first-degree kidnapping for the 13 January 1990 abduction and rape of a Lincoln County woman. The Court of Appeals, by a 2-1 vote, ordered a new trial on both charges after concluding that a witness for the State acted as a custodian or officer- in charge of the jury in violation of defendant’s rights under the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution. State v. Jeune, 104 N.C. App. 388, 409 S.E.2d 919 (1991). We disagree with the Court of Appeals and reverse.…