State v. Marley

EXUM, Chief Justice.

Defendant’s assignments of error pertain to: (1) whether the trial court’s instructions to the jury included a constitutionally impermissible presumption on an essential element of the offense; (2) whether the trial judge erred in finding in aggravation that the offense was especially heinous, atrocious or cruel, N.C.G.S. § 15A-1340.4(a)(l )f; and (3) whether there was error in the trial court’s finding in aggravation at the sentencing hearing that defendant acted with premeditation and deliberation, defendant having been acquitted by the jury of first degree murder. We…