Classifying Prior Convictions for Sentencing Purposes

When determining a defendant’s prior record level for felony sentencing, prior convictions count for points according to their classification as of the offense date of the crime now being sentenced. G.S. 15A-1340.14(c). That law helps modernize a person’s record, treating it according to present-day classification standards as opposed to those that existed at the time of the prior offenses themselves. The rule can cut in either direction. If the offense class of the prior conviction has increased between the time of the prior and present offenses, the prior counts for points according to the higher offense class. If the offense class has decreased, the prior counts at its new, reduced level. The rule is simple enough to apply when an offense classification for a single crime is ratcheted up or down. What do you do, though, when a person has a prior conviction for an offense that has since been split into multiple offenses with different classifications? A recent case gives some guidance. The case is State v. Arrington, decided by the court of appeals earlier this week. In Arrington, the defendant was convicted of two felonies and of being a habitual felon. One of his prior convictions—the most significant one in terms of points—was a July 1994 conviction for second-degree murder. Back when the defendant committed that second-degree murder, it was a Class C felony under Fair Sentencing. For most of the Structured Sentencing era it was Class B2. Had it remained so, G.S. 15A-1340.14(c) would clearly have required Mr. [...]