State v. Thompson
North Carolina Court of Appeals
139 N.C. App. 299, 533 S.E.2d 834 (2000)
- Written by Haley Gintis, JD
Facts
In 1998, a jury found Timothy Ober Thompson (defendant) guilty of multiple counts of statutory rape against N, who was 14 years old when the sexual acts occurred. At the trial, counsel for Thompson claimed that N’s reluctance to report the sexual abuse suggested that the sexual abuse of which Thompson was accused had not happened. In response to the defense’s theory, the prosecution for the State of North Carolina (plaintiff) introduced testimony from N and her brother, in which they stated that Thompson had abused N’s siblings and the family’s cat while in N’s presence. N specifically testified that she witnessed Thompson strangle and drown the family cat. Testimony was also provided concerning other acts of abuse that Thompson had committed while not in N’s presence. Following the conviction, Thompson appealed on the ground that the trial court had erred by admitting into evidence the testimony concerning his abuse toward N’s siblings and the cat. The North Carolina Court of Appeals reviewed the case.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Lewis, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 812,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
