State v. Rice, 501 S.E.2d 665 (N.C. Ct. App. 1998)

Cases | State v. Rice, 501 S.E.2d 665 (N.C. Ct. App. 1998) | 2018

The defendant pled guilty to second-degree murder. On appeal, the defendant claimed that the trial court erred in admitting a victim impact statement into evidence. The appellate court held that the contention was unfounded. The trial court found no aggravating factors based on recitations contained in the statement. The defendant was not deprived of his right to be notified of information tending to aggravate his punishment without an opportunity to explain or refute it. Further, because the defendant’s sentence was within the statutory presumptive range and there were no findings of aggravation, he failed to show that the result of the hearing would have been materially more favorable to him had the statements not been admitted.