Smith's Criminal Case Compendium
Smith's Criminal Case Compendium
Table of Contents
Smith's Criminal Case Compendium
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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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In this Wayne County case, defendant appealed his convictions for two counts of indecent liberties with a child, arguing error in finding that he was a recidivist. The Court of Appeals determined that defendant’s claims were meritless or procedurally barred and dismissed for lack of appellate jurisdiction.
Defendant entered into a plea agreement where he agreed to plead guilty based on allegations made against him in Duplin and Wayne Counties. In Duplin County, defendant pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree statutory sexual offense in April 2020. In Wayne County, defendant pleaded guilty to the two indecent liberties charges giving rise to the current case in July 2023. When sentencing defendant in Wayne County, the trial court found that defendant qualified as a recidivist based on his prior Duplin County convictions and ordered him to register as a sex offender for life. Defendant filed a notice of appeal for the “Judicial Findings and Order for Sex Offenders” but did not appeal the underlying judgment. Subsequently, defendant filed a petition for writ of certiorari with the Court of Appeals.
The core of defendant’s argument was that the Duplin County charges for sexual offense were “joined in the same plea agreement” with the Wayne County charges for indecent liberties, and thus “should be treated in the same way as charges that are joined for trial.” Slip Op. at 3. Looking through applicable precedent, the court quickly dispensed with defendant’s argument, noting the cases cited by defendant were “readily distinguishable from the present case because the Duplin County charges and Wayne County charges were not joined for trial.” Id. at 5. The court explained that it was irrelevant that defendant entered a plea agreement for all the charges at the same time because defendant “was convicted and sentenced at different times for two separate sets of qualifying offenses.” Id. at 5-6. The court thus declined to grant the petition for lack of merit and dismissed defendant’s appeal.
The court also briefly considered defendant’s argument that his due process rights were infringed by the recidivist determination, explaining that defendant did not raise this argument in front of the trial court and that the court declined to invoke Rule of Appellate Procedure 2 to consider it.
The court reversed the trial court’s lifetime registration and SBM orders. When a trial court finds a person was convicted of a “reportable conviction,” it must order that person to maintain sex offender registration for a period of at least 30 years. If a trial court also finds that the person has been classified as a sexually violent predator, is a recidivist, or was convicted of an aggravated offense, it must order lifetime registration. Before a trial court may impose SBM, it must make factual findings determining that (i) the offender has been classified as a sexually violent predator pursuant to G.S. 14-208.20, (ii) the offender is a recidivist, (iii) the conviction offense was an aggravated offense, (iv) the conviction offense was a violation of G.S. 14-27.2A or G.S. 14-27.4A, or (v) the offense involved the physical, mental, or sexual abuse of a minor. Because the victim was not a minor, only the first three categories are relevant here. However in its orders, the trial court found that the defendant had not been convicted of an aggravated offense, was not a recidivist, nor had he been classified as a sexually violent predator. It nevertheless ordered the defendant to enroll in lifetime registration and lifetime SBM. The court reversed the registration and SBM orders and remanded those issues for resentencing. The court noted that if the State pursues SBM on remand, it must satisfy its burden of presenting evidence from which the trial court can fulfill its judicial duty to make findings concerning the reasonableness of SBM under the fourth amendment pursuant to the Grady decision.
The trial court erred by ordering lifetime registration for the defendant. Although the defendant was convicted of reportable convictions and is therefore required to register as a sex offender, neither sexual offense with a child under G.S. 14-27.4A(a) nor sexual activity by a substitute parent under G.S. 14-27.7(a) constitute aggravated offenses requiring lifetime registration.
The court reversed and remanded the trial court’s order imposing lifetime SBM. The trial court erred by finding that the defendant was a recidivist where the only evidence presented by the State was the oral statement of the prosecutor that the defendant had obtained reportable offenses in 1989 and 2006. The State conceded that neither witness testimony nor documentary evidence was presented to establish the defendant’s prior criminal history and that statements by the lawyers constituted the only basis to find that the defendant had been convicted of the two offenses. The court held: “Something more than unsworn statements, which are unsupported by any documentation, is required as evidence under the statute to allow the trial court to impose lifetime SBM.” The court also rejected the notion that defense counsel’s statements to the court constituted a stipulation to the two prior convictions.
The trial court erroneously concluded that attempted second-degree rape is an aggravated offense for purposes of lifetime SBM and lifetime sex offender registration. Pursuant to the statute, an aggravated offense requires a sexual act involving an element of penetration. Here, the defendant was convicted of attempted rape, an offense that does not require penetration and thus does not fall within the statutory definition of an aggravated offense.
The trial court erred by ordering lifetime sex offender registration and lifetime SBM because first-degree sexual offense is not an “aggravated offense” within the meaning of the sex offender statutes.
The trial court erred by requiring lifetime sex offender registration based on second-degree sexual offense convictions. Although the convictions qualify as reportable offenses requiring registration for 30 years, they do not constitute an aggravated offense requiring lifetime registration.