Citation for Open Container Violation that Omitted Elements Was Sufficient to Confer Jurisdiction

The North Carolina Supreme Court decided State v. Jones, ___ N.C. ___ (2018) on Friday, affirming the court of appeals’ determination that the citation that charged the defendant with transporting an open container of alcoholic beverage, but left out several elements, was legally sufficient to invoke the trial court’s subject matter jurisdiction. The citation. The citation in Jones alleged that “[o]n . . . .Sunday, the 04 day of January, 2015, at 10:16PM in the county named above [defendant] did unlawfully and willfully WITH AN OPEN CONTAINER OF ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE AFTER DRINKING (G.S. 20-138.7(A))[.] The offense. G.S. 20-138.7(a) prohibits a person from (1) driving, (2) a motor vehicle, (3) on a highway or the right-of-way of a highway, (4) while there is an alcoholic beverage in the passenger area in other than the unopened manufacturer’s original container, and (5) while the driver is consuming alcohol or while alcohol remains in the driver’s body. While the citation issued to Jones stated the correct statute, it failed to allege that he was driving a motor vehicle on a highway or the right of way of a highway, that the open alcoholic beverage container was in the passenger area of the motor vehicle, or that he was consuming alcohol or had alcohol remaining in his body. The procedural history. Jones moved to dismiss the charge in district court on the basis that the citation was fatally defective. The district court denied his motion and found him guilty. Jones appealed and was again convicted in [...]