Smith's Criminal Case Compendium
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State v. Dixon, ___ N.C. App. ___, 821 S.E.2d 232 (Oct. 2, 2018)
The court rejected the defendant’s argument that the findings and conclusions made by the trial court from the bench with respect to his motions to suppress are insufficient because the trial court expressly ordered the State to prepare written orders on the motions but the State failed to do so. North Carolina law requires findings of fact only where there is a material conflict in the evidence, and allows the trial court to make those findings of fact either orally or in writing. Regardless of whether findings of fact are required, the trial court must make conclusions of law in the record. Considering each of the defendant’s motions to suppress the court found that the “trial court’s oral rulings on the motions are without error, because they state sufficient findings of fact resolving any material conflicts in the evidence and conclusions of law that apply the law to those factual findings.”