State v. Friend: Dismissal and Re-filing of DWI Charges Did Not Violate Defendant's Constitutional Rights

Jeff wrote here about State v. Fields, ___ N.C. App. ___ (March 6, 2012), a case in which the officer’s observation of the defendant’s vehicle as moving within its lane "like a ball bouncing in a small room” provided reasonable suspicion for a traffic stop that culminated in an impaired driving charge.  Another recent court of appeals decision, State v. Friend, ___ N.C. App. ___ (2012) addresses a different kind of bouncing in connection with an impaired driving case, namely the bouncing of cases between district and superior courts and the effect it has on a defendant’s right to due process and a speedy trial. The defendant in Friend initially was charged with impaired driving on March 7, 2006.  The case was continued eleven times, several times based on the unavailability of the State’s witnesses and several times upon the defendant’s request.  On July 18, 2007, the State again moved to continue on the basis that the arresting officer was not in court.  When the district court judge denied the State’s motion, the state voluntarily dismissed the charge.  Nine days later, the state filed new charges based on the same March 7, 2006 incident of impaired driving.  The defendant filed a motion to dismiss, which was granted by the district court on October 24, 2007.  The State appealed this ruling to the superior court, which remanded the matter for entry of a written order, which the district court judge entered on April 4, 2008.  The district court concluded that “a dismissal [...]