Supreme Court of North Carolina

State v. Stewart

May 23, 2024

Summary

The Supreme Court held that the sexual battery indictment was facially valid even though it did not expressly allege the element “by force,” because the allegation of nonconsensual sexual contact sufficiently inferred force, and therefore reversed the Court of Appeals. The Court applied a de novo review and affirmed that indictment defects are non‑jurisdictional, leaving the conviction intact.