State v. Gosnell, 231 N.C. App. 106

Defendant Danny Dale Gosnell was indicted for first-degree murder for the January 9, 2012 killing of Brenda Kay Roberts Williams and convicted by a jury on October 2, 2012.
Trial charged two alternative theories of first-degree murder: (1) malice, premeditation and deliberation; and (2) lying in wait. Second-degree murder was also charged as an alternative.
Jury instructions: the court told jurors they must return "guilty" if elements for premeditation/deliberation were proven, but did not explicitly instruct they must return "not guilty" on that theory if those elements were not proven; by contrast, the court did give explicit "not guilty" mandates for lying-in-wait and second-degree murder within the instructions.
The verdict sheet allowed jurors to check guilty for first-degree murder (malice/premeditation and/or lying in wait), guilty of second-degree murder, or not guilty.
Evidence: Defendant parked near the victim’s property early morning, called multiple times, confronted and shot the victim after she left the house; a neighbor arrived during or immediately after the shooting and witnessed events including a second shot while the victim lay on the ground.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Failure to instruct jury it must return "not guilty" on premeditation/deliberation theory	State: jury was properly instructed overall and verdict sheet provided a not-guilty option	Gosnell: omission of an explicit not-guilty mandate for the premeditation theory was plain error and deprived jury of proper option	Court: No plain error — instructions/read as a whole plus verdict sheet cured any defect; not reversible
Instruction on lying-in-wait	State: lying-in-wait instruction was supported by evidence of ambush/surprise	Gosnell: no evidence of ambush or immediate surprise because there was prior interaction outside the house	Court: Evidence supported lying-in-wait (ambush/surprise); instruction proper; even if error, no prejudicial effect shown

State v. McHone, 174 N.C. App. 289, 620 S.E.2d 903 (N.C. Ct. App.) (failure to provide explicit not-guilty mandate can be reversible error)
State v. Odom, 307 N.C. 655, 300 S.E.2d 375 (N.C. 1983) (plain-error standard and definition)
State v. Lawrence, 365 N.C. 506, 723 S.E.2d 326 (N.C. 2012) (prejudice requirement for plain error)
State v. Allison, 298 N.C. 135, 257 S.E.2d 417 (N.C. 1979) (definition and scope of lying-in-wait)
State v. Wiseman, 178 N.C. 785, 101 S.E. 629 (N.C. 1919) (lying-in-wait where victim taken unawares)
State v. Lynch, 327 N.C. 210, 393 S.E.2d 811 (N.C. 1990) (lying-in-wait requires ambush/surprise; contrasted where evidence showed no ambush)