Prior Record Points for Out-of-State Convictions

Improper counting of a defendant’s prior out-of-state convictions is a common sentencing error. This post collects the law on the subject, including the many appellate cases decided over the past decade or so. I’ll admit, it’s the Atacama Desert of blog posts: long and dry. But the issue comes up often enough—and can have significant enough effect on a defendant’s ultimate sentence—that I thought it was worth a comprehensive review. Convictions in the courts of the United States, another state, the Armed Forces of the United States, or another country qualify as prior convictions, regardless of whether the offense in question would be a crime if it occurred in the North Carolina. G.S. 15A-1340.11(7)c. A special classification rule applies to these out-of-state prior convictions for purposes of assigning prior record points. By default, a prior conviction for a crime that another jurisdiction classifies as a felony counts as a Class I felony (which carries two points) for record-level purposes in North Carolina. A prior conviction for a crime that another state classifies as a misdemeanor is classified as a Class 3 misdemeanor, and so does not factor into a defendant’s prior record level at all. G.S. 15A-1340.14(e). No special findings are required if the defendant’s prior out-of-state convictions are treated according to the default level. State v. Hinton, 196 N.C. App. 750 (2009). The State or the defendant can attempt to depart from the default classification by presenting evidence that the offense is substantially similar to an offense in North Carolina [...]