Case Summaries - Court of Appeals (12/17/19)

This post summarizes opinions issued by the North Carolina Court of Appeals on December 17, 2019. These summaries will be added to Smith’s Criminal Case Compendium, a free, searchable database of case annotations from 2008 to today. Trial court erred by not conducting another competency hearing before defendant’s trial began, where the last competency hearing was held six months before trial and there were bona fide doubts about defendant’s competency at the time of trial. State v. Allen, __ N.C. App. __ (Dec. 17, 2019) After selling one pill of buprenorphine to a confidential informant working with the sheriff’s office on October 22, 2015, the defendant was charged with (i) sale, (ii) delivery, and (iii) possession with intent to sell and deliver a Schedule IV substance, as well as (iv) keeping or maintaining a vehicle for the purpose of selling buprenorphine, and (v) being an habitual felon. While awaiting trial, the defendant was involuntarily committed on three occasions, and twice found not capable of proceeding. The defendant was found to have intellectual disabilities that were exacerbated by severe abuse and neglect during his childhood, along with an opiate abuse and bipolar disorder, and he was unable to live independently or maintain a job. Although a prior examination had concluded that the defendant was not likely to regain his capacity to proceed, his third evaluation determined that he had regained capacity. After conducting a hearing on August 23, 2017, the trial court concluded that the defendant was competent to stand trial. Six [...]