EWarrants, Errors, and First Appearances, Oh My!

Last July, the North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) launched a new application for generating criminal process and pleadings: eWarrants. This application replaced NCAWARE and is part of the court system’s migration to eCourts, a digital system that will replace the current paper-based system for maintaining court records. Given the scope of eWarrants, it may not be surprising to hear that the rollout was not seamless. Indeed, the thousands of magistrates, clerks, deputy clerks, and assistant clerks who became immediate users of the application soon identified defects and issues, many of which have subsequently been resolved. One such issue was the application’s failure, in certain circumstances, to print out charging language on criminal process and pleadings such as magistrate’s orders and warrants for arrest. When the issuing official does not immediately detect and remedy such an error, a judge who later holds a first appearance on such a charge may wonder how to proceed. This post will review the judge’s options in such a circumstance. First Appearance. Let’s start with a quick reminder about what a first appearance is. Any defendant charged with a felony in a criminal process that is not based upon an indictment as well as any defendant held in custody on misdemeanor charges must, subject to some limited exceptions, be brought before a district court judge within 72 hours of arrest. G.S. 15A-601(a). In addition to assuring a defendant’s right to counsel, reviewing conditions of release, and, in felony cases setting a date for a [...]