State v. McLamb

ARNOLD, Judge.

The defendants first contend that the trial court erred in allowing the State to cross-examine the defendants’ character witness as to knowledge of the defendants’ prior similar acts and in denying the defendants’ motion for mistrial based on the cross-examination. It is well-established in North Carolina that a character witness may not be asked whether he has heard of particular acts of misconduct by the defendant. See State v. Hunt, 287 N.C. 360, 215 S.E. 2d 40 (1975). The concern of this rule is that such questioning, which informs the jury that a defendant has a prior…