State v. Gorman and Improper Extensions of Probation

I have written before (here) about some of the tricky issues related to extending probation. A recent case from the court of appeals illustrates the complexity of the rules. In State v. Gorman, __ N.C. App. __ (June 19, 2012), a defendant received four suspended sentences on June 3, 2005, for a series of felony convictions. He was placed on probation for 60 months in each case, pursuant to the judge’s finding that a longer period of probation was required than that set out in G.S. 15A-1343.2(d) (thus avoiding the common error about probation length discussed here). So, the original periods of probation would have expired June 2, 2010. (There is some question about when all of the periods of probation actually began. Looking at the record, it appears to me that three of the four periods began on June 3, 2005, while one may have started after Mr. Gorman finished an active sentence for which there is no judgment form in the record.) After he was placed on probation, Mr. Gorman went to New Jersey to serve a five-year sentence for a crime that apparently occurred before he was placed on probation in North Carolina. He was in prison in the Garden State from 2005 to 2010. In 2008, a superior court judge reviewed Mr. Gorman’s probation case. That is not unusual, as the law commands a probation officer to bring a probationer’s case before the court after three years for a mandatory review. G.S. 15A-1342(b). The probation officer is [...]