May the State Rely on an ACIS Printout to Prove Habitual Felon Status?

A person who has previously been convicted of three non-overlapping felonies who commits a new felony in North Carolina may be indicted for the new felony and may be separately indicted for obtaining habitual felon status. If the person is convicted of the new felony and of obtaining habitual felon status, the person is subject to more severe punishment for the new felony. In State v. Waycaster, __ N.C. App. ___ (2018), the court of appeals considered whether the State could prove a prior conviction underlying the defendant’s habitual felon status by offering a printout from the state’s Automated Criminal/Infraction System (“ACIS”) into evidence. Facts. The defendant in Waycaster was indicted for interfering with an electronic monitoring device (the new felony) and for attaining the status of an habitual felon. The habitual felon indictment alleged three previous convictions in McDowell County: A June 4, 2001 conviction for felony breaking and entering on or about February 20, 2001; A February 18, 2010 conviction for felony breaking and entering on or about October 29, 2009; and A July 22, 2014 conviction for safecracking on or about June 27, 2013. During the habitual felon phase of the defendant’s trial, the State offered into evidence copies of judgments for the 2010 and 2014 convictions. The ACIS evidence. To prove the 2001 conviction, the State called the McDowell County Clerk of Court as a witness. The clerk identified a printout from ACIS that showed that on June 4, 2001 the defendant was convicted in McDowell County [...]