Indicting for a Misdemeanor in Superior Court After a Grand Jury Presentment

District court has original jurisdiction to try misdemeanors, so a misdemeanor usually arrives in superior court after a defendant is convicted of a misdemeanor in district court and appeals for a trial de novo in superior court. However, there are exceptions to the district court’s original jurisdiction that allow a superior court to handle a misdemeanor without any action in district court. For example, when (1) it is a lesser-included offense of a felony, (2) it is transactionally-related to a felony under G.S. 15A-926 (trying misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia with trafficking in marijuana), (3) there is a guilty or no contest plea in lieu of a felony, or (4) a misdemeanor is initiated by grand jury presentment and subsequent indictment, which is the topic of this post. See G.S. 7A-271, -272. Because a presentment is rarely used, most people in the criminal justice system understandably know little about it. The presentment has a long history in North Carolina, having been used since statehood. It was originally a method by which a grand jury could bring a criminal charge on its own without an indictment and without the involvement of a prosecutor. But, as early as 1797, the North Carolina General Assembly enacted legislation to prohibit a trial by presentment alone. Instead, the grand jury’s return of a presentment requires a prosecutor to investigate the presentment’s allegations and submit an indictment if appropriate. G.S. 15A-641(c). For additional history on presentments, see State v. Thomas, 236 N.C. 454 (1952). Although a grand [...]