State v. Blocker, 219 N.C. App. 395 (Mar. 6, 2012)

The trial court abused its discretion by summarily denying the defendant’s motion under G.S. 15A-980 for suppression, in connection with sentencing, of a prior conviction which the defendant alleged was obtained in violation of her right to counsel. The trial court dismissed the motion as an impermissible collateral attack on a prior conviction that only could be raised by motion for appropriate relief. Relying on a prior unpublished opinion, the court held that although the defendant “could not seek to overturn her prior conviction” on this basis, G.S. 15A-980 gave her “the right to move to suppress that conviction’s use in this case.”