Limits on PJCs

Judges can continue prayer for judgment in any case. Except when they can’t. In North Carolina, when a defendant is convicted, either after a trial or by guilty plea, the court is generally viewed as having the authority to continue prayer for judgment in the case. A prayer for judgment continued (PJC) can serve different purposes. It can be a mere continuance of sentencing in the case, allowing the court to obtain additional information about the defendant before entering judgment. It can take on the character of a suspended sentence, with the PJC set to continue “from term to term” for some specified period on condition of the defendant’s good behavior, with the understanding that the State will pray judgment and the court will sentence the defendant in response to any reported misconduct. Often, however, it is everyone’s understanding that a PJC will be the last thing that happens in a case—an exercise of judicial mercy that will leave the defendant with a conviction but no punishment for it. I sometimes refer to that last type of PJC as a dispositional PJC. Practice on all types of PJCs varies across the State. The precise legal underpinnings of the dispositional PJC are hard to pinpoint. I walked through some of the history of PJCs in this post, noting that the modern appellate courts generally approve of a trial judge’s broad authority to continue prayer for judgment. See State v. Van Trusell, 170 N.C. App. 33 (2005) (“North Carolina courts have the power [...]