No Appeal of Revocation of Deferred Prosecution Probation

The Court of Appeals recently held in State v. Summers that a defendant has no right to appeal when deferred prosecution probation is revoked. Under G.S. 15A-1341(a1), certain defendants charged with a misdemeanor or a Class H or I felony can be placed on probation as part of a formal deferred prosecution. That probation, the law says, is “as provided in this Article”—which is to say Article 82, Probation. I have generally understood that to mean that, in the absence of specific guidance to the contrary, the regular conditions and procedures applicable in post-conviction probation cases apply to deferred prosecution probation cases, too. Summers clarifies one way in which deferrals are different. In Summers, a defendant charged with felony embezzlement entered into a deferred prosecution agreement in district court. He was placed on 24 months of supervised probation. Eight months into his probation, his probation officer filed a violation report alleging that the defendant violated three conditions of probation: failure to pay restitution, failure to complete community service hours, and failure to report as directed. At a violation hearing held in district court, a judge found that the defendant committed the alleged violations and revoked probation. The defendant attempted to appeal to superior court for a de novo violation hearing, but the superior court judge ruled that she did not have jurisdiction to hear it. Under G.S. 15A-1347, a district court probationer can appeal to superior court only when the district court judge “activates a sentence or imposes special probation.” The [...]