Case Summaries: N.C. Court of Appeals (Sept. 17, 2025)

This post summarizes the published criminal opinions from the North Carolina Court of Appeals released on September 17, 2025. Trial court erred by conducting summary criminal contempt proceedings when the defendant’s conduct constituted indirect criminal contempt. State v. Brinkley, No. COA24-681 (N.C. Ct. App. Sept. 17, 2025) (Pasquotank County). In April 2023, the defendant pled guilty to voluntary manslaughter and was sentenced to a minimum 58, maximum 82 months. The trial court ordered him to report to jail on June 12, 2023. The defendant failed to report to jail then, and the trial court issued an order for his arrest. He was arrested on January 2, 2024. On January 16, 2024, the trial court, pursuant to a summary contempt proceeding, held the defendant in direct criminal contempt and sentenced him to an additional thirty days. The Court of Appeals granted the defendant’s petition for certiorari to address the question of whether the trial court erred by holding him in direct criminal contempt. Summary contempt proceedings are permissible for direct criminal contempt. G.S. 5A-14(a). Direct criminal contempt occurs if the act is committed within the sight or hearing of the presiding judge and in, or in the immediate proximity to, the room where proceedings are being held before a court. G.S. 5A-13(a). Here, the defendant’s willful failure to comply with the trial court’s order constituted an act of criminal contempt. But his failure to report occurred outside of the presence of the court. Hence, the defendant’s conduct did not constitute direct criminal [...]