Smith's Criminal Case Compendium
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State v. Lynch, ___ N.C. App. ___, 803 S.E.2d 190 (Jul. 5, 2017)
Over a dissent, the court rejected the defendant’s argument that there was a clerical error in the judgment. Although the trial court stated after the jury returned the verdict that it was “going to arrest judgment” on the trafficking by delivery charge, the trial court did not pronounce the sentence at that time because the defendant failed to appear. At a sentencing hearing held several weeks later, the trial court noted that the defendant had been found guilty on three trafficking counts--including trafficking by delivery--and consolidated the trafficking offenses into one judgment. The judgment form reflects that the three offenses were so consolidated. The trial court’s failure to arrest judgment on the trafficking by delivery offense was not a clerical error.