State v. Crowder, COA23-833, ___ N.C. App. ___ (May. 7, 2024)

In this Yancy County case, defendant appealed his conviction for second-degree forcible sex offense, arguing defective language in the indictment deprived the trial court of jurisdiction. The Court of Appeals found the indictment was sufficient and the trial court had jurisdiction.  

The Court of Appeals first explained that under G.S. 15-144.2(c), a short-form indictment alleging that the defendant engaged in a sex offense with a physically helpless person is acceptable, and this type of indictment was used in the current case. Defendant argued that under State v. Singleton, 285 N.C. App. 630 (2022), the short-form indictment was insufficient. The court disagreed, explaining that the short-form indictment in Singleton was for a second-degree rape charge, and the statute in question “differs slightly from its counterpart statute allowing a short-form indictment to be used to charge a sexual offense charge” meaning the issues identified in Singleton did not support defendant’s argument in the current case.  Slip Op. at 3.