limited to a consideration of the assignments of error in the record on appeal and ... if the appealing party has no right to appeal the appellate court should dismiss the appeal ex mero motu. When a party fails to raise an appealable issue, the appellate court will generally not raise it for that party. Harris v. Harris, 307 N.C. 684, 690, 300 S.E.2d 369, 373-74 (1983) (citation omitted); see also State v. Golphin, 352 N.C. 364, 460-61, 533 S.E.2d 168, 231 (2000) (noting that the trial court was not afforded an opportunity to rule on the pertinent issue and that the defendant’s subsequent efforts to preserve the issue for review were insufficient to satisfy Rule 10), cert. denied, 532 U.S. 931, 149 L. Ed. 2d 305 (2001); State v. Hoffman, 349 N.C. 167, 177, 505 S.E.2d 80, 86 (1998) (<HOLDING>), cert. denied, 526 U.S. 1053, 143 L. Ed. 2d
holding that appellant failed to preserve error because it did not present appellate complaint to trial court holding that a party had failed to preserve an argument for appellate review when that party had failed to argue the issue to the trial court either at trial or in his postjudgment motion holding that defendant failed to raise a constitutional issue at trial and thus failed to preserve the issue for appellate review holding that an appellate court may not consider an issue not presented to the trial judge on appeal from final judgment on the merits holding that the defendant failed properly to preserve assignment of error for appellate review because the trial court had no opportunity to consider the defendants contention as presented on appeal