State v. Payton, 145
| Decision Date | 27 September 1961 |
| Docket Number | No. 145,145 |
| Citation | 255 N.C. 420,121 S.E.2d 608 |
| Court | North Carolina Supreme Court |
| Parties | STATE, v. Johnny PAYTON. |
T. W. Bruton, Atty. Gen., H. Horton Rountree, Asst. Atty. Gen., for the State.
Charles L. Abernethy, Jr., New Bern, for defendant, appellant.
Evidence vital to the State's case against the defendant was elicited from the State's witness in the absence of the jury. The court reporter relayed this evidence to the jury by reading her notes. Thus the story of the witness went to the jury as hearsay. The defendant was entitled to have the jury hear the story from the witness herself and to observe her demeanor at the time she told it. This was a fundamental right.
A review of the record fully discloses the difficult problem confronting the court by reason of the tender age of the witness and the excitement incident to her role in the court proceedings. Nevertheless, guilt must be established by evidence offered in accordance with the rules. For the error committed, the defendant is awarded a
New trial.
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State v. Spence
...Defendant Williams assigns this as error. Nothing else appearing, such would constitute error under the holdings in State v. Payton, 255 N.C. 420, 121 S.E.2d 608; State v. Wilson, 269 N.C. 297, 152 S.E.2d 223. However, an examination of the record shows that Dr. Nunnally in the presence of ......
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State v. Wilson, 673
...Mrs. Cook was properly admissible and material to the defense, defendant is entitled to a new trial under the ruling in State v. Payton, 255 N.C. 420, 121 S.E.2d 608. In Payton, '(e)vidence vital to the State's case against the defendant was elicited from the State's witness in the absence ......
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State v. Hubert, 218
...given instead of leaving it to the Solicitor to re-question the witness. In view of our recent decision in the case of State v. Payton, 255 N.C. 420, 121 S.E.2d 608, we hold that this assignment of error is well taken and should be Other assignments of error need not be considered since the......