State v. Patterson

MOORE, Justice.

Defendant strenuously urges there was insufficient evidence to carry the case to the jury on the issues of premeditation and deliberation and the trial court erred in not allowing *559his motion for a nonsuit on the first degree murder charge. Taking the evidence in the light most favorable to the State, we find sufficient evidence to permit a jury to find premeditation and deliberation. These elements of first degree murder are not usually susceptible to direct proof, but must be established, if at all, from the circumstances surrounding the homicide. State v. Buchanan, 287 N.C.…