Offense Date Ranges: Which Sentencing Law Applies?

North Carolina’s structured sentencing grid did not change from 1995 to 2009. Since then it has changed twice, once for offenses committed on or after December 1, 2009 (discussed here), and again (under the Justice Reinvestment Act) for offenses committed on or after December 1, 2011. With that recent history in mind, an important first step in any sentencing episode is choosing the right grid. All of the grids, including the original 1994 version, are posted on the webpage of the North Carolina Sentencing and Policy Advisory Commission, here. Which grid to use is determined by the defendant’s offense date.  Based on the questions I have been getting lately, it seems that the court system is starting to see the first wave of post–December 1, 2011 offenders. Many of them are before the court for multiple offenses, some that occurred before the new law came into effect and some after. In general the court must be careful to sentence each conviction under the law applicable to it. I wrote previously, here, about the implications and propriety of consolidating pre- and post-JRA offenses for judgment. Today’s post considers a variation on that theme. What about a single offense for which the alleged date of offense is a range of dates that crosses the December 1, 2011 threshold? It is permissible for the charging instrument to allege a range of dates when time is not of the essence and the lack of specificity does not impair the defendant’s ability to defend against the [...]