State v. Wainwright, 240 N.C.App. 77, 770 S.E.2d 99 (Mar. 17, 2015)

In this DWI case, the court rejected the defendant’s argument that the trial court erred by denying his motion to quash a citation on grounds that he did not sign that document and the charging officer did not certify delivery of the citation. Specifically, the defendant argued that the officer’s failure to follow the statutory procedure for service of a citation divested the court of jurisdiction to enter judgment. The court found that the citation, which was signed by the charging officer, was sufficient. [Author’s note: The court’s opinion indicates that the citation was converted to a Magistrate’s Order and that Order was served on the defendant. Thus, the Magistrate’s Order, not the citation, was the relevant charging document and it is not clear why any defect with respect to the defendant’s and officer’s signatures on the citation was material.]