The court of appeals decided State v. Dewalt last week, holding that the aggravating factor of driving while license revoked, when used to elevate misdemeanor speeding to elude arrest to a felony offense pursuant to G.S. 20-141.5(b)(5), does not require proof that the defendant drove on a street or highway. The facts of the case, gleaned from the opinion and the parties’ briefs, are as follows: Law enforcement officers who had a warrant for the defendant’s arrest cornered him in his Land Rover Discovery in the parking lot of shopping center. When one of the officers told the defendant he was under arrest, the defendant grinned and allowed the Land Rover to roll backward toward a patrol car. The defendant then ”gunned it,” negotiating the narrow space between two patrol cars parked in front of him and driving over concrete barriers in the parking lot. The defendant drove toward the parking lot’s exit, which led on to Shallowford Road. The officers lost sight of defendant’s vehicle before it left the parking lot. Shortly thereafter, officers received word that defendant’s vehicle was at 120 Sunny Acres Lane, the address of a residence with a large yard adjacent to the shopping center. When the officers arrived, they discovered defendant’s vehicle in a ditch across the street from the house. Tire tracks suggested the vehicle had traveled from Shallowford Road across the yard, and then across Sunny Acres Lane and into the ditch. A boy who lived at the house testified that he was [...]
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