Stipulating to Prior Convictions for Second-Degree Murder

In a previous post I wrote about State v. McNeil, a case that resolved the question of how to count prior convictions for possession of drug paraphernalia, in light of that crime’s 2014 division into Class 1 (non-marijuana) and Class 3 (marijuana) offenses. Today’s post is about prior convictions for second-degree murder—split into Class B1 and Class B2 varieties in 2012—in light of State v. Arrington, a case recently decided by the supreme court. I wrote about Arrington here when the court of appeals issued its decision in the case. In Arrington, a defendant being sentenced for a crime committed in 2013 had a prior conviction for second-degree murder from July of 1994. Second-degree murder was a Class C felony under Fair Sentencing when the defendant committed the crime. But, under G.S. 15A-1340.14(c), a person’s prior convictions are generally “modernized” and counted for points according to their offense class as of the offense date of the crime now being sentenced. The issue in Mr. Arrington’s case was that by the time he committed his present offense (in 2013), the General Assembly had created two possible offense classifications for second-degree murder. Effective December 1, 2012, second-degree murder became a Class B1 felony, except it is punished as a Class B2 felony in two circumstances: (1) when malice is based on an inherently dangerous act or omission, done in such a reckless and wanton manner as to manifest a mind utterly without regard for human life and social duty and deliberately bent on [...]