Case Summaries: N.C. Court of Appeals (Sept. 17, 2024)

This post summarizes the published criminal opinions from the North Carolina Court of Appeals released on September 17, 2024. These summaries will be added to Smith’s Criminal Case Compendium, a free and searchable database of case summaries from 2008 to the present. Evidence supported defendant’s intent to permanently deprive even though she reimbursed her employer for missing funds after being arrested; defendant’s record level was properly calculated because General Assembly reclassified offense as felony in the same year as the plea. State v. Evans, COA23-1160, ___ N.C. App. ___ (Sept. 17, 2024). In this Johnston County case, defendant appealed her convictions for three counts of larceny by an employee, arguing error in denying her motion to dismiss for insufficient evidence and calculating her prior record level. The Court of Appeals found no error. From May 13 -15, 2021, defendant was responsible for making cash deposits from her Dollar General store to the bank. In the store’s deposit log, defendant recorded that deposits were made on each day; she quit her job at the store on May 17. An audit later determined that defendant never made the deposits and stole over $11,000 from the store. A loss prevention officer tried to contact defendant, but could not reach her, and the matter was reported to the local sheriff’s office. Defendant was finally located and served with arrest warrants in September of 2021. After being served with arrest warrants, defendant made deposits into the Dollar General bank account in March and April of 2022, [...]