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NOTICE: This opinion is subject to motions for rehearing under Rule 22 as well as formal revision before publication in the New Hampshire Reports. Readers are requested to notify the Reporter, Supreme Court of New Hampshire, One Charles Doe Drive, Concord, New Hampshire 03301, of any editorial errors in order that corrections may be made before the opinion goes to press. Errors may be reported by E-mail at the following address: reporter@courts.state.nh.us. Opinions are available on the Internet by 9:00 a.m. on the morning of their release. The direct address of the court's home page is: http://www.courts.state.nh.us/supreme. THE SUPREME COURT OF NEW HAMPSHIRE ___________________________ Hillsborough-southern judicial district No. 2008-278 THE STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE v. ULYSSES MCMILLAN Argued: February 12, 2009 Opinion Issued: May 29, 2009 Kelly A. Ayotte, attorney general (Nicholas Cort, assistant attorney general, on the brief and orally), for the State. Christopher M. Johnson, chief appellate defender, of Concord, on the brief and orally, for the defendant. BRODERICK, C.J. The defendant, Ulysses McMillan, appeals his convictions for burglary, see RSA 635:1 (2007), and first degree assault, see RSA 631:1 (2007), following a jury trial in Superior Court (Morrill, J.). We affirm. The record supports the following facts. In March 2007, the defendant and Justine Mollomo co-signed a lease for an apartment. Sometime prior to August 2007, Mollomo asked the defendant to move out. She removed all of his clothing and personal belongings from the apartment, and he no longer had

a key. However, the defendant continued to visit the apartment on a regular basis. On August 3, 2007, the defendant entered the apartment by climbing up the fire escape and entering through the bathroom window. Aaron Davis, an acquaintance of Mollomo, was watching television in Mollomo's living room when he heard a loud noise, and subsequently saw the defendant coming out of the bathroom. There was a physical altercation between the men, and Davis was eventually able to remove the defendant from the apartment. Soon thereafter, Davis left the apartment, and Mollomo locked the door behind him. Within minutes of Davis' departure the defendant returned, kicked the door in, and assaulted Mollomo. Mollomo sustained serious injuries to her face and neck. At trial, the State introduced into evidence the recordings of two emergency 911 calls made by Mollomo. Prior to trial, the court heard argument regarding their admissibility, and, over the defendant's objection, ruled in favor of the State. The trial court, however, agreed to give the jury the limiting instruction proposed by the defendant. For reasons unclear from the record, the limiting instruction was never given to the jury. At the close of evidence, the defendant offered a proposed jury instruction on the elements of burglary. The trial court, however, gave its own instruction, to which the defendant objected. The defendant was subsequently convicted of both burglary and first degree assault. This appeal followed. On appeal, the defendant first contends that the trial court erred by admitting the 911 tapes without providing a limiting instruction. This issue, however, was not preserved for appeal. As a general rule, we will not consider grounds of objections not specified or called to the court's attention at the trial. This requirement, grounded in common sense and judicial economy, affords the trial court an opportunity to correct an error it may have made and is particularly appropriate where an error involves a jury instruction. State v. Eldredge, 135 N.H. 562, 564 (1992) (quotation omitted). Here, the defendant did not bring to the trial court's attention its failure to provide the jury with the previously agreed upon limiting instruction at the time the tapes were introduced, or any time thereafter. Therefore, this issue has not been preserved for appeal, and we decline to address it. The defendant next argues that the trial court's jury instruction on the elements of burglary was erroneous because: (1) it failed to give proper weight

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to the defendant's status as a leaseholder; and (2) it did not require the jury to determine whether the defendant knew he was not licensed or privileged to enter the premises. "The purpose of the trial court's charge is to state and explain to the jury, in clear and intelligible language, the rules of law applicable to the case." State v. Johnson, 157 N.H. 404, 407 (2008) (brackets and quotation omitted). When reviewing jury instructions, we evaluate allegations of error by interpreting the disputed instructions in their entirety, as a reasonable juror would have understood them, and in light of all the evidence in the case. Id. We determine whether the jury instructions adequately and accurately explain each element of the offense and reverse only if the instructions did not fairly cover the issues of law in the case. Id. Whether or not a particular jury instruction is necessary, and the scope and wording of the instruction, is within the sound discretion of the trial court, and we review the trial court's decisions on these matters for an unsustainable exercise of discretion. Id. RSA 635:1, I, provides that a person is guilty of burglary if he enters an occupied section of a building with purpose to commit a crime therein, unless the premises are at the time open to the public or "the actor is licensed or privileged to enter." The trial court's instruction on the "licensed or privileged" element stated: Now, a person who is licensed or privileged

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