Improper Periods of Probation

I haven’t done any sort of official tally, but I think the most common sentencing error in North Carolina might be sentencing the defendant to an improper period of probation. It came up again this week in State v. Wheeler, so I thought I’d take the opportunity to write about it. The basic rule is in G.S. 15A-1343.2(d): “Unless the court makes specific findings that longer or shorter periods of probation are necessary, the length of the original period of probation for offenders sentenced under [Structured Sentencing] shall be as follows: (1)    For misdemeanants sentenced to community punishment, not less than six nor more than 18 months; (2)    For misdemeanants sentenced to intermediate punishment, not less than 12 nor more than 24 months; (3)    For felons sentenced to community punishment, not less than 12 nor more than 30 months; and (4)    For felons sentenced to intermediate punishment, not less than 18 nor more than 36 months. With the appropriate findings, the court can order probation for up to five years. The suspended sentence judgment forms (AOC-CR-603, for example) include a check-box in the “Suspension of Sentence” block for the judge to record the finding. In Wheeler, the defendant was placed on probation for 24 months for a community-sentenced misdemeanor, with no judicial finding that a period longer than 18 months was necessary. The court thus remanded the case for findings pursuant to G.S. 15A-1343.2—as it did in State v. Lamond, __ N.C. App. __ (2009), State v. Branch, __ N.C. App. [...]