State v. Starr, 365 N.C. 314

Fire department and police entered defendant Starr's apartment after a 911 report of water leakage, using force.
Defendant fired at officers, injuring none; four counts of assaulting a firefighter with a firearm were charged; one count of assaulting an officer was acquitted.
Trial court sentenced Starr to two consecutive terms, suspended with probation.
Jury requested to review testimony of Firefighter Spruill; trial court denied under 15A-1233(a) citing lack of capability to provide transcript.
Starr challenged the denial as improper under 15A-1233(a); Court of Appeals affirmed the denial as discretionary with jurors relying on recollection.
North Carolina Supreme Court granted discretionary review to consider whether the denial complied with 15A-1233(a) and prejudicial impact.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the trial court properly exercised discretion under 15A-1233(a).	Starr argues the court failed to exercise discretion as to transcript access.	State contends discretion was exercised via instruction to rely on recollection.	Court held error; court violated 15A-1233(a) by not exercising discretion.
Whether the error was prejudicial to Starr.	Spruill testimony could have yielded not guilty results on some counts.	Evidence was corroborated; not the sole link; not material to guilt.	No reasonable possibility of different outcome; error not prejudicial.

State v. Barrow, 350 N.C. 640 (1999) (deny/reading transcript requires discretion; improper reasoning shows error)
State v. Ashe, 314 N.C. 28 (1985) (discretion to deny or permit restatement of evidence)
State v. Lang, 301 N.C. 508 (1980) (jurors may rely on recollection; discretion in evidence review)
Ford v. State, 297 N.C. 28 (1979) (discretion to permit restatement of evidence)
State v. Johnson, 346 N.C. 119 (1997) (preservation and prejudice considerations in review of discretion)
State v. Maness, 363 N.C. 261 (2009) (court does not exercise discretion when it says it has no discretion)