Motions for Appropriate Relief and Procedural Default

As noted in an earlier post, I get asked a lot of questions about motions for appropriate relief (MARs). One procedural issue that causes some confusion is procedural default. The MAR statute provides that in order for a court to reach the merits of a defendant’s MAR, the defendant must satisfy certain procedural rules. If the defendant fails to do so, he or she is deemed to have committed a procedural default. When this occurs, the MAR is rejected on grounds of procedural bar. Thus, the procedural default rules—which are mandatory—preclude consideration on the merits when a procedural error has occurred.   G.S. 15A-1419 contains four procedural default rules: Claim Not Raised in Previous MAR. A MAR must be denied if upon a previous MAR the defendant was in a position to adequately raise the ground or issue but did not do so. In addition to the general exceptions that apply to all four of the procedural bar rules and are discussed below, the statute prescribes a specific exception that applies only to this bar: it does not apply when the previous MAR was made within ten days after entry of judgment or during the pendency of the direct appeal. Issue Determined in Prior Proceeding. A MAR must be denied if the ground or issue was previously determined on the merits upon an appeal from the judgment or upon a previous motion or proceeding in North Carolina or federal courts. In addition to the general exceptions that apply to all four [...]