Smith's Criminal Case Compendium
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State v. Poole, 228 N.C. App. 248 (Jul. 2, 2013)
The trial court erred by dismissing an indictment charging the defendant with violating an ex parte domestic violence protective order (DVPO) that required him to surrender his firearms. The trial court entered an ex parte Chapter 50B DVPO prohibiting the defendant from contacting his wife and ordering him to surrender all firearms to the sheriff. The day after the sheriff served the defendant with the DVPO, officers returned to the defendant’s home and discovered a shotgun. He was arrested for violating the DVPO. The trial court granted the defendant’s motion to dismiss, finding that under State v. Byrd, 363 N.C. 214 (2009), the DVPO was not a protective order entered within the meaning of G.S. 14-269.8 and that the prosecution would violate the defendant’s constitutional right to due process. The State appealed. The court concluded that Byrd was not controlling because of subsequent statutory amendments and that the prosecution did not violate the defendant’s procedural due process rights.