State v. Copley, 374 N.C. 224

On Aug. 6, 2016 Chad Copley shot and killed Kourey Thomas, who was unarmed and running across part of Copley’s yard; the shot was fired through a closed garage/door and Thomas died.
Copley was recorded saying “I’m going to kill him,” told a 911 operator he was “locked and loaded,” and admitted to a deputy that he shot someone; a shotgun matching his admission was observed in his house.
Copley claimed self-defense; his credibility was undermined at trial by admitted false statements and inconsistent accounts.
During the State’s closing the prosecutor referenced race (urging the jury not to let racial bias make fear reasonable); defense objected twice and the trial court overruled without giving a curative instruction or declaring a mistrial.
The jury convicted Copley of first-degree murder. The Court of Appeals ordered a new trial, finding the prosecutor’s racial remarks prejudicial; the N.C. Supreme Court reversed, holding any impropriety was not prejudicial given the context and overwhelming evidence.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the trial court abused its discretion by overruling objections to the prosecutor’s race-related closing remarks	Remarks were contextually proper and, if improper, were harmless because the evidence of guilt and the remainder of closing argument negated prejudice	Remarks appealed to racial bias and were inflammatory; trial court should have sustained objections and given curative instruction or declared mistrial	No abuse of discretion as to prejudicial error; assuming remarks were improper, defendant did not show a reasonable possibility the outcome would differ absent them
Whether the Court of Appeals erred in ordering a new trial based on those remarks	Court of Appeals misapplied Jones (a capital-sentencing precedent) and failed to analyze prejudice in light of the full record and closing context	Court of Appeals correctly found the prosecutor exceeded permissible bounds and that the error warranted a new trial	Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeals: Jones was inapplicable here; prejudice must be assessed against the full evidence and context, and defendant failed to meet the burden to show prejudice

State v. Fletcher, 370 N.C. 313, 807 S.E.2d 528 (standard of review for objections to prosecutorial argument)
State v. Jones, 355 N.C. 117, 558 S.E.2d 97 (capital-case discussion of prejudice; relied upon and distinguished)
State v. Ratliff, 341 N.C. 610, 461 S.E.2d 325 (prejudice test: reasonable possibility jury would have acquitted)
State v. Murrell, 362 N.C. 375, 665 S.E.2d 61 (assuming impropriety, harmlessness where no prejudice shown)
State v. Thompson, 359 N.C. 77, 604 S.E.2d 850 (closing-argument remarks must be evaluated in context)
State v. Green, 336 N.C. 142, 443 S.E.2d 14 (consider context of remarks in appellate review)
State v. Murillo, 349 N.C. 573, 509 S.E.2d 752 (substantial evidence can render improper argument harmless)
State v. Barden, 356 N.C. 316, 572 S.E.2d 108 (non-derogatory race references permissible when material to issues)
State v. Moose, 310 N.C. 482, 313 S.E.2d 507 (references to race permissible where evidence suggests racial motive)
State v. Williams, 339 N.C. 1, 452 S.E.2d 345 (racial appeals by prosecutor are improper)