State v. Brown

Key passage — most relied on by later courts

“The term “inflicts serious injury” means physical or bodily injury resulting from an assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill. The injury must be serious but it must fall short of causing death. Further definition seems neither wise nor desirable. Whether such serious injury has been inflicted must be determined according to the particular facts of each case. Whether the assault is calculated to create a breach of the peace that would outrage the sensibilities of the community does not adequately or correctly describe the infliction of serious injury contemplated by G.S. 14-32. A simple assault committed by a prizefighter upon a cripple at a Legion convention may be calculated to create a breach of the peace that would outrage the sensibilities of the community. The instruction given by the court does not properly define the serious injury contemplated by the statute under which the indictment was drawn. The court did not give any other definition. The prosecuting witness was shot in the back and arm with a .410 shotgun, loaded with bird shot. He went to the hospital where 17 shot were removed. Whether the shot were removed by a knife, tweezers, or the fingernails, is undisclosed. How deep the shot penetrated into the flesh after passing through the clothing; whether the witness remained in the hospital half an hour, overnight, or a week, are matters also undisclosed. The evidence is sufficient to go to the jury on the question of serious injury, but the jury must mak”

quoted by 1 later decision, including 60 N.C. App. 92 - State v. Pettiford