SUBCHAPTER XII. TRIAL PROCEDURE IN SUPERIOR COURT.
Article 71.
Right to Trial by Jury.
§ 15A‑1201. Right to trial by jury.
In all criminal cases the defendant has the right to be tried by a jury of 12 whose verdict must be unanimous. In the district court the judge is the finder of fact in criminal cases, but the defendant has the right to appeal for trial de novo in superior court as provided in G.S. 15A‑1431. In superior court all criminal trials in which the defendant enters a plea of not guilty must be tried before a jury. (1977, c. 711, s. 1.)
"Again I don't know what happened in that house. But I do know that Martin Luther King Jr. and many, many others of all races did not die so that the poor, black, and oppressed could surrender the moral high ground, and attempt to inflict injustice on the privileged."
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/sports/14494721.htm
Jason Whitlock is a sports writer whose pieces appear in SI and ESPN. He is also a black man with sense. This is the latest of several excellent articles he's written on issues surrounding the Duke case.