State v. Collins, 234 N.C. App. 398 (Jun. 17, 2014)

The court held that the trial court had jurisdiction to enter an order denying the defendant’s request for post-conviction DNA testing, rejecting the defendant’s argument that the order was entered out of session and without his consent. Harmonizing State v. Boone, 310 N.C. 284 (1984), State v. Trent, 359 N.C. 583 (2005), and Capital Outdoor Adver., Inc. v. City of Raleigh, 337 N.C. 150 (1994), the court held:

The . . . rule is that the superior court is divested of jurisdiction when it issues an out-of-term order substantially affecting the rights of the parties unless that order is issued with the consent of the parties. If the court issues an order out of session, however, the court is not divested of jurisdiction as long as either section 7A-47.1 or Rule 6(c) is applicable.

Although Rule 6(c) had no bearing on this criminal case, G.S. 7A-47.1 applied and validated the trial court’s out-of-session order.