Case Summaries - N.C. Supreme Court (June 5, 2020)

This post summarizes opinions issued by the Supreme Court of North Carolina on June 5, 2020. (1) The defendant could not be separately convicted and punished for both habitual misdemeanor assault and felony assault inflicting serious bodily injury based on the same act; (2) the court must arrest judgment on one of the convictions. State v. Fields, ___ N.C. ___, ___ S.E.2d ___ (June 5, 2020). The defendant was convicted after a jury trial of habitual misdemeanor assault and felony assault inflicting serious bodily injury for the same assaultive act. The trial court imposed consecutive sentences. The defendant appealed, arguing that the trial court erred by sentencing him for both habitual misdemeanor assault and the felony assault. The Court of Appeals vacated the habitual misdemeanor assault conviction, holding over a dissent that the defendant could not be sentenced for both crimes when the offenses arose from the same act. State v. Fields, ___ N.C. App. ___, 827 S.E.2d 120 (2019). The State appealed to the Supreme Court of North Carolina based on the dissent, and also sought discretionary review on the issue of whether, even if it was impermissible for the trial judge to sentence the defendant for both convictions, the Court of Appeals erred by vacating one of the convictions instead of arresting judgment on it. (1) On the first issue, the Supreme Court affirmed the Court of Appeals, concluding that the defendant could not be sentenced for both convictions that arose out of the same assaultive act. The misdemeanor [...]