Case Summaries – N.C. Court of Appeals (Sept. 20, 2022)

This post summarizes the published criminal opinions from the North Carolina Court of Appeals released on September 20, 2022. This summary will be added to Smith’s Criminal Case Compendium, a free and searchable database of case summaries from 2008 to the present.   Pennsylvania statutory sexual assault offense was substantially similar to North Carolina statutory rape offense for purposes of registration as sex offender under N.C.G.S. § 14-208.7(a). In re: Pellicciotti, 2022-NCCOA-624, ___ N.C. App. ___ (Sept. 20, 2022). In this Durham County case, defendant appealed an order requiring him to register as a sex offender after his relocation to North Carolina. Defendant argued that his offense was not substantially similar to the reportable offense under North Carolina law; the Court of Appeals disagreed and affirmed the order. Defendant pleaded guilty to the Pennsylvania offense of second-degree statutory sexual assault in 2011. After relocating to Durham County in 2020, the Durham County Sheriff’s Office informed him that he was required to register as a sex offender as required by N.C.G.S. § 14-208.7(a). Defendant filed a petition contesting the registration and the petition was set for hearing in February of 2021. At the hearing, the trial court determined that defendant’s conviction was substantially similar to N.C.G.S. § 14-27.25(a), statutory rape of a person 15 years or younger. The Court of Appeals looked at the language of the Pennsylvania statute in effect when defendant pleaded guilty, and examined each element of the offense along with the corresponding portion of the North Carolina statute. [...]