Case Summaries: N.C. Court of Appeals (Oct. 15, 2025)

This post summarizes the published criminal opinions from the Court of Appeals of North Carolina released on October 15, 2025. (1) The trial court could meaningfully conduct a retrospective competency hearing occurring more than five years after the trial date given adequate evidence presented; (2) the trial court did not err in concluding that the defendant was competent to proceed to trial. State v. Hollars, No. COA24-929 (N.C. Ct. App. Oct. 15, 2025) (Hampson). In this Watauga County case, the defendant challenged the trial court’s conclusions made after a retrospective competency hearing held more than five years after the trial date. On January 8, 2018, the first day of the defendant’s trial, defense counsel raised concerns about the defendant’s competency. The next morning, however, defense counsel stated he no longer had concerns. The trial court did not conduct a competency hearing, and the defendant was convicted of various sexual offenses. On appeal from the original trial, the Court of Appeals concluded that the trial court erred by failing to sua sponte conduct a competency hearing before or during trial. See State v. Hollars, 266 N.C. App. 534, 543-44 (2020). The Court of Appeals remanded to the trial court to determine whether it was possible to hold a meaningful retrospective determination of the defendant’s competency at trial and, if so, to determine whether the defendant was competent during his 2018 trial. The State appealed from this decision, and the North Carolina Supreme Court affirmed. The retrospective competency hearing was held in July [...]