Case Summaries – N.C. Court of Appeals (April 4, 2023)

This post summarizes the published criminal opinions from the North Carolina Court of Appeals released on April 4, 2023. These summaries will be added to Smith’s Criminal Case Compendium, a free and searchable database of case summaries from 2008 to the present. Defendant’s willful absence from proceedings represented waiver of right to be present at trial. State v. Jefferson, COA22-450, ___ N.C. App. ___ (April 4, 2023). In this Rutherford County case, defendant appealed his convictions for assault by strangulation, habitual misdemeanor assault, and habitual felon status, arguing the trial court erred by proceeding in his absence during one day of the trial. The Court of Appeals found no error and affirmed the judgment. On November 15, 2021, defendant’s charges came to trial; on the first day of proceedings defendant told the court he was not ready for his case to go to trial, and the trial court adjourned for the day. The next morning, defendant refused to leave his cell, despite the trial court addressing defendant via defense counsel’s cell phone. After two colloquies with defendant over the phone, the trial court made several findings on the record and announced the trial would go forward without defendant. The state called several witnesses and trial moved forward, although the trial court took a recess and again attempted to convince defendant to attend trial. After the last of the state’s witnesses were called, the court recessed again, and at this point, defendant decided to attend the proceedings. Defendant was present for the [...]