The Court in State v. Whittington, 318 N.C. 114, 347 S.E.2d 403 (1986), the defendant contended that he "did not employ or display a dangerous or deadly weapon during the commission of the sexual assault since prior to the act the victim managed to take the knife away from him and throw it out of his grasp." Id. at 118, 347 S.E.2d at 405. In Whittington, the following transpired: The victim testified that after engaging in a brief conversation with defendant at the front of the car wash, "defendant had a knife pulled on me and he said if I didn't do what he said -- that I had better do what he said because he had a gun in his back pocket. " Defendant grabbed the victim and began dragging her to the rear of the car wash. During this time, the victim placed both hands on the blade of the knife to keep it from getting close to her. After defendant had dragged the victim about eighty feet, both fell to the ground and the victim "twisted the knife out of his hand and got it away from him." During the struggle, the victim lost consciousness. When the victim awakened, she felt defendant penetrate her vagina with his finger. Id. at 119-20, 347 S.E.2d at 405-06. The Court reasoned that the foregoing testimony revealed "a series of incidents forming a continuous transaction between defendant's wielding the knife and the sexual assault." Id. "The knife was employed during this period of time in an effort to force the victim to give in to defendant's demands." Id. Therefore, the Court concluded that "it is of no consequence that defendant was not in possession of the deadly weapon at the precise moment that penetration occurred," because "the knife had been used during the course of the assault to assist the perpetrator in accomplishing his evil design upon the victim who was unarmed." Id.