State v. Bell

WYNN, Judge.

“In all cases, civil or criminal, if no evidence is introduced by the defendant, the right to open and close the argument to the jury shall belong to him.” 1 Defendant argues that since he offered no evidence at his trial, the trial court erred by denying him the right to close argument to the jury. For the reasons given in State v. Shuler, 135 N.C. App. 449, 452-53, 520 S.E.2d 585, 588-89 (1999) and State v. Wells, 171 N.C. App. 136, 140, 613 S.E.2d 705, 706-08 (2005), we agree with Defendant and order a new trial.

This appeal arises from Defendant’s trial on the charges of…