Consecutive Sentences for Misdemeanors

A while ago, Alyson Grine and I wrote a post about consecutive sentences for misdemeanors. In it, we discussed the rule that when a court elects to impose consecutive sentences for two or more misdemeanors, the cumulative length of the sentences of imprisonment may not exceed twice the maximum sentence authorized for the class and prior conviction level of the most serious offense. If all the convictions are for Class 3 misdemeanors, consecutive sentences may not be imposed at all. G.S. 15A-1340.22. In that post we also opined about how those rules apply when a judge decides to suspend some or all of the misdemeanor sentences. We wrote that the rules would apply with equal force to suspended sentences, which, under G.S. 15A-1340.20(b)-(c), still include a term of "imprisonment." Our thought was that the maximum number of days of imprisonment the court has to work with - active or suspended - in a misdemeanor sentencing episode is twice the maximum for the most serious offense. A recent court of appeals case, State v. Remley, is leading me to rethink what we wrote in that post. The case doesn't expressly say we were wrong, but it does do the math a little differently than we did. In Remley, the Level II defendant was convicted of 8 counts of Class 1 misdemeanor larceny. The trial court sentenced the defendant as follows, with all sentences to run consecutively: 1.       45 days, active 2.       45 days, active 3.       45 days, suspended, with 10 days active [...]