Felony Deferrals in District Court

Can a district court judge enter a deferred prosecution order or conditional discharge for a defendant charged with a felony? As most readers of this blog know, the district court has jurisdiction to accept a plea of guilty or no contest to a Class H or I felony with the consent of the presiding district court judge, the prosecutor, and the defendant. G.S. 7A-272(c) (discussed here). According to the N.C. Sentencing and Policy Advisory Commission, 27 percent of all Class H and I felony convictions in Fiscal Year 2016 were pleas entered in district court. A question that comes up from time to time is whether that grant of jurisdiction to the district court to accept guilty pleas includes the authority to place a defendant charged with a felony on probation as part of a statutory deferred prosecution under G.S. 15A-1341(a1) or a conditional discharge under G.S. 15A-1341(a4) or G.S. 90-96. The short answer, I think, is that the court has clear authority to enter the conditional discharge, but perhaps not the deferred prosecution. Deferred prosecution. G.S. 7A-272(c) grants to the district court jurisdiction “to accept a defendant’s plea of guilty or no contest to a Class H or I felony” as provided in that section. The district court also has jurisdiction under G.S. 7A-272(b) to “conduct preliminary investigations and to bind the accused over for trial upon waiver of preliminary examination or upon a finding of probable cause, making appropriate orders as to bail or commitment.” The question is whether [...]