Smith's Criminal Case Compendium
Smith's Criminal Case Compendium
Table of Contents
Smith's Criminal Case Compendium
About
This compendium includes significant criminal cases by the U.S. Supreme Court & N.C. appellate courts, Nov. 2008 – Present. Selected 4th Circuit cases also are included.
Jessica Smith prepared case summaries Nov. 2008-June 4, 2019; later summaries are prepared by other School staff.
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The superior court judge erred by “retroactively” applying Structured Sentencing Law (SSL) provisions to a Fair Sentencing Act (FSA) case. The defendant was sentenced under the FSA. After SSL came into effect, he filed a motion for appropriate relief asserting that SSL applied retroactively to his case and that he was entitled to a lesser sentence under SSL. The superior court judge granted relief. The supreme court, exercising rarely used general supervisory authority to promote the expeditious administration of justice, allowed the State’s petition for writ of certiorari and held that the superior court judge erred by modifying the sentence. The court relied on the effective date of the SSL, as set out by the General Assembly when enacting that law. Finding no other ground for relief, the court remanded for reinstatement of the original FSA sentence.
In this Davidson County case, defendant appealed his convictions for indecent liberties with a child and statutory sexual offense with a child, arguing he was improperly sentenced. The Court of Appeals found no error.
In November of 2021, defendant was indicted for sexual offenses with his step-grandchildren. At the conclusion of his trial, defendant was sentenced in accordance with G.S. 15A-1340.17(d). Relevant for defendant’s appeal, in 2011 the General Assembly passed S.L. 2011-192, the “Justice Reinvestment Act,” that amended G.S. 15A-1340.17 to provide a stiffer penalty for offenses committed after December 1, 2011.
On appeal, defendant argued that the evidence was unclear as to the dates when he committed the offenses, and that he should have been sentenced with the version of G.S. 15A-1340.17 applicable for offenses prior to December 1, 2011. The Court of Appeals disagreed, pointing to testimony from one of the victims about how old she was when the abuse occurred. The court explained that “[e]ven drawing inferences from this testimony that are mathematically favorable to Defendant, this evidence tends to show the conduct continued until at least 2014[,]” after the December 1, 2011, effective date. Slip Op. at 6.
The trial court erred by granting the defendant’s MAR and retroactively applying 2009 amendments to the Structured Sentencing Act (SSA) to the defendant’s 2005 offenses. The court reasoned that the Session Law amending the SSA stated that “[t]his act becomes effective December 1, 2009, and applies to offenses committed on or after that date.” Thus, it concluded, it is clear that the legislature did not intend for the 2009 grid to apply retroactively to offenses committed prior to December 1, 2009.