State v. Sanderson

In State v. Sanderson, 62 N.C. App. 520, 302 S.E.2d 899 (1983), where the defendant challenged the sufficiency of the verdict, the Court stated: Section 15A-1237 is intended to aid the trial court in avoiding the taking of verdicts which are flawed by the inadvertent omission of some essential element of the verdict itself when given orally. A verdict form is sufficient for this purpose if it provides the court a proper basis upon which to pass judgment and sentence the defendant appropriately. Id. at 524, 302 S.E.2d at 902. Accordingly, in determining whether there was error in the failure to include an essential element of a drug violation, we stated: When the indictments, the court's charge, and the verdict form are considered together, we believe: (1) that it can be inferred that the jury found the omitted element . . . and; (2) that the form itself, although improperly omitting that element, sufficiently identified the offenses found by the jury to enable the court to pass judgment on the verdict and sentence defendant appropriately. Id.