Supreme Court Opinions
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Court of Appeals Opinions
Headnote Index for 2018
Case Summaries/Headnotes
Mandate: 10 January 2019
Zip File of Published Opinions
Headnote Index: 21 December 2018
Case Title / Description
Whether the trial court erred in denying defendant's motion to suppress his confession; whether the Court of Appeals erred in holding that defendant's confession was involuntary and should have been suppressed; whether the error was prejudicial.
Medical malpractice action; whether the trial court erred in allowing plaintiff's Rule 59 motion to amend judgment, thus setting aside a jury verdict on damages; whether a new trial should be granted on the sole issue of damages; whether the trial court erred in directing a verdict against defendants on the issue of contributory negligence; trial court's award of costs against defendants for certain expert witness fees.
Whether the trial court erred in denying defendant's motion to suppress evidence of a handgun seized from him at the scene of an ongoing police search for narcotics; whether the trial court's findings of fact were sufficient to support its conclusion of law that a Terry frisk of defendant was justified under the circumstances.
Whether a local board of county commissioners may be held legally responsible for providing a sound basic education for students in the county; appeal from trial court's grant of defendant's Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss.
Facial constitutional challenge to 2016 law making Cabinet appointees subject to the advice and consent of the North Carolina Senate.
Whether subdivision (a)(1) of N.C.G.S. 14-399, which generally prohibits littering, is an essential element of, or creates an exception to, that offense; whether an indictment that did not refer to the language in subdivision (a)(1) was fatally defective.
Mandate: 27 December 2018
Zip File of Published Opinions
Headnote Index: 7 December 2018
Case Title / Description
Whether a minority stockholder of a North Carolina corporation owed fiduciary duties to its fellow stockholders.
Appeal from defendant's convictions for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and attaining habitual felon status; whether the trial court committed prejudicial error by instructing the jury concerning the doctrine of constructive possession.
Appeal from defendant's conviction for driving while impaired; whether the trial court committed reversible error by instructing the jury on the basis of a legal theory lacking evidentiary support.
Whether a holographic codicil later added to a page of a properly attested, typewritten will met statutory and case law requirements to be valid; whether the Court of Appeals erred in reversing the trial court's grant of summary judgment for the propounder and remanding for entry of summary judgment in favor of the caveators.
Appeal from convictions for attempted first-degree murder and solicitation to commit first-degree murder of the same victim; whether the trial court erred in (1) denying defendant's motion to dismiss the attempt charge for insufficient evidence and (2) not arresting judgment on the solicitation conviction on double jeopardy grounds.
Action by tenants to recover damages based on landlord's alleged negligent renovation of the leased premises that resulted in severe damage to plaintiffs' equipment and business interests; whether the lease agreement contained an unambiguous waiver of all claims by either party based on the other party's negligence.
Workers' Compensation Act; whether, after her employer admitted medical compensability for certain injuries via a Form 60, an employee met her burden to show causation for other medical conditions arising from the same accident but for which the employer did not admit liability; whether the Industrial Commission's erroneous application of the 'Parsons presumption' requires the award of benefits to be set aside and remanded to the Commission.
Appeal from final order and opinion of N.C. Business Court affirming a declaratory ruling by defendant board stating that 'dry needling' is within the scope of practice of physical therapists.
Appeal from convictions for trafficking in opium; claim of ineffective assistance of counsel; whether N.C. R. App. P. 10(a)(1) precludes appellate review of alleged sentencing errors to which defense counsel did not object at trial; whether defendant's sentences were an abuse of discretion and violate the Eighth Amendment.
Motor vehicle wreck caused by underinsured driver; judgment for plaintiff against defendant tortfeasor; whether defendant can receive credit against the amount of the judgment owed by him for monies paid to plaintiff by plaintiff's UIM carrier.
Appeal from trial court's discretionary ruling under N.C.G.S. 1-83(2) changing venue in a child custody action; whether the Court of Appeals erred in dismissing plaintiff-mother's interlocutory appeal from the trial court's order.
Appeal from final judgment of North Carolina Business Court granting defendants' motion to dismiss all claims under Civil Procedure Rule 12 and from interlocutory order denying plaintiffs' motion to file a second amended complaint.
Mandate: 15 November 2018
Zip File of Published Opinions
Headnote Index: 26 October 2018
Case Title / Description
Appeal from trial court's entry of summary judgment for plaintiff and subsequent order denying defendants' motion for reconsideration under Civil Procedure Rule 59; whether defendants' Rule 59 motion tolled the time period in Rule of Appellate Procedure 3(c) for filing an appeal from the summary judgment order; whether Rule 59 can provide relief from a summary judgment order or is limited to post-trial motions.
Negligence action for a slip and fall on City-owned premises leased to a nonprofit entity; summary judgment granted for defendant based on governmental immunity; whether ownership and maintenance of the building was a governmental or proprietary function.
Whether, at defendant's trial for attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon, the trial court committed prejudicial error by (1) declining to give certain jury instructions requested by defendant regarding 'no duty to retreat,' (2) denying a defense request to admit testimony from witnesses describing the victim's previous aggressive, violent acts towards others, and (3) denying defendant's motion for a continuance.
Appeal from defendant's convictions for trafficking in and manufacturing methamphetamine; whether the trial court committed plain error in instructing the jury on aiding and abetting.
Appeal from sentence imposed in conjunction with a plea agreement; whether the trial court erred in accepting defendant's stipulation to a previous second-degree murder conviction as a Class B1 offense; application of State v. Sanders and State v. Wingate to determine whether the stipulation was to a question of fact or a question of law.
Appeal from conviction for driving a motor vehicle while having an open container of alcohol in the passenger compartment; whether the citation identifying the offense was a sufficient criminal pleading, standing alone, to give the superior court jurisdiction over the offense.
Motion to suppress evidence; whether the affidavit on which a warrant authorizing a search of defendant's property was based established probable cause to issue the warrant.
Review of recommendation for thirty-day suspension without pay.
Mandate: 11 October 2018
Zip File of Published Opinions
Case Title / Description
Appeal from trial court's refusal to release defendants from jail due to their continued failure to comply with conditions imposed in an order of civil contempt; whether the Court of Appeals erred by affirming the trial court's order when the trial court did not consider defendants' evidence that they are unable to comply with the contempt order, as required under N.C.G.S. 5A-21(a)(3).
Appeal from trial court's denial of defendant's motion to suppress evidence; whether the warrantless search of the room in defendant's apartment in which contraband was found was constitutional; whether seizure of the contraband was permissible under the 'plain view' doctrine.
Whether N.C.G.S. 15A-954(a)(9) establishes a procedure to hear a pretrial motion by a defendant to dismiss a murder charge based on the immunity provision of section 14-51.2, the 'castle doctrine.'
Whether an indigent defendant made a sufficient showing of 'materiality' under N.C.G.S. 15A-269 to require the trial court to appoint counsel to assist with his post-conviction motion for DNA testing to support his claim of innocence.
Whether defendant, who, along with two accomplices, participated in a series of armed robberies over a two- to three-hour period, engaged in a single conspiracy or in multiple conspiracies to commit robbery with a dangerous weapon.
Whether the trial court committed prejudicial error in admitting testimony from the State's expert in fingerprint identification that tied defendant to the crimes for which he was convicted.
Whether the trial court erred in revoking defendant's probation under N.C.G.S. 15A-1344(f) after his probationary term expired; whether the State presented sufficient evidence that defendant willfully absconded probation in violation of N.C.G.S. 15A-1343(b)(3a) and whether the trial court abused its discretion in making that finding.
Mandate: 6 September 2018
Zip File of Published Opinions
Headnote Index: 17 August 2018
Case Title / Description
Motion for appropriate relief after defendant was convicted of first-degree murder; whether defendant was denied effective assistance of counsel after counsel did not withdraw from representing him at trial so that she could offer exculpatory testimony on defendant's behalf.
Confession by juvenile defendant while under police interrogation; whether defendant's motion to suppress should have been allowed under N.C.G.S. § 7B-2101 because the confession was not made knowingly and voluntarily.
Whether the two-year statute of limitations in N.C.G.S. § 15-1 mandates dismissal of misdemeanor charges against a defendant who was charged via a citation and magistrate's order, but not by a warrant, indictment, or presentment.
Whether the two-year statute of limitations in N.C.G.S. § 15-1 mandates dismissal of misdemeanor charges against a defendant who was charged via a citation and magistrate's order, but not by a warrant, indictment, or presentment.
Whether the trial court erred in dismissing a medical malpractice complaint for failure to comply with Civil Procedure Rule 9(j) when plaintiff met the substantive requirements of, but failed to include a specific statement required by, Rule 9(j); whether the trial court erred in not allowing plaintiff to amend the complaint under Rules 15(a) and (c) to correct the technical pleading defect after the statute of limitations had run.
Whether the State presented sufficient evidence to survive defendant's motion to dismiss a charge of keeping or maintaining a vehicle which is used for the keeping or selling of a controlled substance.
Appeal from order consolidating cases; whether the judge who entered the order lacked authority to do so because a different judge presided over the matter at trial and whether, if so, the resulting procedural error requires vacatur of the judgment below.
Complaint alleging medical malpractice; whether plaintiff's failure to comply with Rule 9(j) before expiration of the statute of limitations requires dismissal of the action if the complaint alleges facts sounding in ordinary negligence, for which a Rule 9(j) certification is not required.
Whether the indictment charging defendant with having attained habitual felon status was fatally defective.
Mandate: 28 June 2018
Zip File of Published Opinions
Headnote Index: 8 June 2018
Case Title / Description
First-degree murder (capital/death).
First-degree murder (capital/death).
Appeal from Court of Appeals decision affirming the N.C. Business Court's grant of summary judgment for plaintiff, an out-of-state trust, in a civil action seeking refund of taxes paid on income earned by the trust but not distributed to a North Carolina resident; whether N.C.G.S. § 105-160.2, under which the tax was assessed, as applied here violates due process under the North Carolina and United States Constitutions.
Whether the statutory requirement that all administrative rules proposed by the State Board of Education first be reviewed and approved by the N.C. Rules Review Commission violates the separation of powers; construction of the Board's powers under Article IX, Section 5 of the N.C. Constitution in relation to N.C.G.S. Chapter 150B, the Administrative Procedure Act.
Appeal from defendant's conviction for felony possession of cocaine; whether the Court of Appeals erred by applying plain error review to defendant's Fourth Amendment claims; whether the arresting officer unnecessarily extended the initial stop in violation of the Supreme Court of the United States' decision in Rodriguez v. United States and whether defendant's consent to the search of his person was invalid.
Appeal from decision of the Court of Appeals denying defendant's petition for writ of certiorari to review a trial court's order denying her motion to dismiss and dismissing her appeal from a judgment entered upon her guilty plea.
Civil revocation of driver's license under N.C.G.S. § 20-16.2 for alleged DWI; whether the person charged 'willfully refused' to submit to a breathalyzer test in violation of subdivision 20-16.2(d)(5).
Appeal from conviction for first-degree murder (non-capital); whether the trial court violated defendant's rights under the Confrontation Clause by allowing a police officer to testify about the deceased victim's statements to him regarding a previous incident of domestic violence involving the victim and defendant.
Appeal from conviction for assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury; whether, by admitting deposition testimony by an essential witness in lieu of her live testimony at trial, the trial court violated Rule of Evidence 804 and defendant's constitutional Confrontation Clause rights; whether the Court of Appeals erred in granting defendant a new trial.
Motion to suppress evidence obtained as a result of defendant's questioning by a police officer; whether the officer who detained defendant for questioning had reasonable suspicion that criminal activity was afoot; whether the trial court erred in denying defendant's motion to suppress.
Whether Article IX of the N.C. Constitution prohibits the General Assembly from transferring certain powers and duties of the State Board of Education to the State Superintendent of Public Instruction.
Appeal by father from adjudication, dispositional, and permanency planning order relieving DSS from further efforts to reunify him with his minor children; whether, at the hearing on the matter, the trial court erred in admitting hearsay statements made by the children's mother under Rules of Evidence 801(d) and 803(4).
Appeal from final judgment of N.C. Business Court dismissing pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) plaintiffs' complaints seeking damages and a declaratory judgment based on defendant's alleged breach of certain shareholder repurchase agreements.
Mandate: 31 May 2018
Zip File of Published Opinions
Headnote Index: 11 May 2018
Case Title / Description
Following defendant's conviction for committing first-degree murder when he was a juvenile, defendant was mandatorily sentenced to life imprisonment without parole; after U.S. Supreme Court held in Miller v. Alabama that sentences such as defendant's are unconstitutional, the trial court held a resentencing hearing and imposed another sentence of life without parole; whether the resentencing statutes enacted in response to Miller (N.C.G.S. 15A-1340.19A to -1340.19D) are unconstitutional.
Whether developers' claims against a municipality for a refund of illegally assessed water and sewer impact fees are barred by the statute of limitations or the doctrine of estoppel by acceptance of benefits.
Petition by purchaser of undivided one-half interest in land to partition the property; whether petitioner, an out-of-state corporation, met statutory and procedural requirements to file the petition.
Biological father; consent for adoption; financial support required under N.C.G.S. 48-3-601.
Whether the State presented sufficient evidence of misdemeanor child abuse and contributing to the neglect of a juvenile to survive defendant's motion to dismiss; whether the trial court committed plain error in failing to intervene ex mero motu during the State's closing arguments because of the State's alleged misuse of properly admitted Rule 404(b) evidence.
Action against CPAs for professional negligence and fraudulent concealment based on plaintiff's tax returns not having been filed; application of the statute of repose in malpractice cases.
Whether the trial court erred in refusing defendant's request to give a jury instruction defining 'moderate punishment' at his trial for physically abusing his minor son.
Appeal from adjudication and disposition order entered in a proceeding under the Juvenile Code; whether the trial court lacked subject matter jurisdiction over the case because the DSS agency that filed the juvenile petition initiating the action lacked standing in the matter.
Appeal from final judgment of N.C. Business Court denying CPA's petition for judicial review of N.C. Board of CPA Examiners' final agency decision imposing disciplinary action on petitioner and her CPA firm.
Appeal from defendant's conviction for possession of marijuana with intent to sell or deliver; whether the trial court erred in denying defendant's motion to dismiss for insufficient evidence.
Appeal from Utilities Commission order declaring that NC WARN acts as a 'public utility' when it sells to a single nonprofit customer electricity produced for that customer from solar panels placed at no cost on the customer's property.
Declaratory judgment action by landowners to establish their vested rights to develop their property as originally shown in a plat approved by defendants and filed with the Register of Deeds; whether the trial court erred by denying defendants' motion to set aside entry of default and by entering default judgment for plaintiffs.
Whether the State presented sufficient evidence to survive defendant's motion to dismiss a charge of maintaining a vehicle for the purpose of keeping or selling a controlled substance.
Review of recommendation for public reprimand.
Mandate: 26 April 2018
Zip File of Published Opinions
Headnote Index: 6 April 2018
Case Title / Description
Interlocutory appeal from N.C. Business Court order granting defendants' motions to dismiss certain claims under Civil Procedure Rule 12(b)(6).
Whether, at defendant's murder trial, the court committed plain error by declining to give certain jury instructions requested by defendant regarding 'no duty to retreat.'
Whether, after defendant's sentence for committing a Class 1 misdemeanor violation of the Controlled Substances Act was punished as a Class I felony under N.C.G.S. 90-95(e)(3), the trial court erred in sentencing defendant, an admitted habitual felon, as a Class E felon.
Kidnapping and first-degree sex offense; whether the trial court erred in denying defendant's motion to dismiss the kidnapping charge on grounds that no restraint apart from that involved in the sex offense occurred.
Whether Rule of Evidence 412, the 'Rape Shield Law,' generally excludes evidence of an alleged victim's sexually transmitted diseases; whether the exception provided in Rule 412(b)(2) allows admission of such evidence in this case.
Whether the Asheville Civil Service Law governing appeals of decisions of the Asheville Civil Service Board to superior court gives a respondent the right to a jury trial.
Whether an indictment charging defendant with obtaining property by false pretense was fatally defective.
Appeal from final judgment of N.C. Business Court interpreting the termination date of a lease; whether the court erred in determining that the lessee failed to strictly comply with the Purchase Option in the Lease Agreement.
Relief from foreclosure sale under N.C.G.S. 1A-1, Rule 60(b) based on petitioner's failure to satisfy Rule 4's 'due diligence' notice requirement; whether N.C.G.S. 1-108 prohibits the court from ordering relief in the form of restoring title to the real property to the previous owner.
Action by homeowners against their homeowners' insurance company for unfair and deceptive trade practices, breach of contract, and bad faith; whether the trial court erred in granting summary judgment for defendant insurer.
Whether an indictment charging defendant with larceny of personal property from a named department store was fatally defective because it did not allege the type of entity from which the property was stolen.
Review of recommendation for public reprimand.
Whether plaintiff homeowners who were later found not to be members of a homeowners association can recoup all previous dues that were erroneously collected by the association; whether an implied-in-fact contract existed between plaintiffs and the association; whether plaintiffs are estopped from denying the obligation to pay dues to the association.
Mandate: 22 March 2018
Zip File of Published Opinions
Headnote Index: 2 March 2018
Case Title / Description
Direct appeal from trial court's order denying defendant's motion for postconviction DNA testing following this Court's opinion finding no error in defendant's conviction for first-degree murder and his sentence of death.
Whether North Carolina recognizes a first-party claim for dram shop liability; if so, whether that claim is barred by the contributory negligence of plaintiff's decedent.
Action by City employee alleging that the City acted arbitrarily in failing to follow its established personnel policies when denying him a promotion; appeal from trial court's grant of judgment on the pleadings in favor of the City; whether plaintiff sufficiently alleged claims under Article I, Sections 1 and 19 of the state constitution.
Appeal from interlocutory orders of N.C. Business Court approving a Settlement Agreement between plaintiffs and some defendants and appointing a Receiver for another defendant that is a Trust.
Condemnation proceeding under Chapter 136 to take a portion of defendants' property for highway improvement purposes; whether the trial court abused its discretion in excluding expert opinion testimony on valuation offered by defendants because the trial court did not consider admissibility of the testimony under Evidence Rule 702 rather than N.C.G.S. 93A-83; whether it was improper for the trial court to instruct the jury that the jury should not consider the taking and use of adjoining lands of others for the same undertaking in determining just compensation.
Medical malpractice action on behalf of minor child for birth-related injuries; whether, after the complaint was dismissed under Rule 41 and refiled six years later, N.C.G.S. 1-17(b) extended the three-year statute of limitations for professional malpractice actions established in N.C.G.S 15(c), thus preventing the refiled complaint from being time barred.
Sufficiency of evidence that defendants constructively possessed marijuana found growing on their property.
Whether the trial court erred in dismissing an action brought by plaintiff homeowners' associations seeking to invalidate the City's rezoning of adjacent property; whether the failure of plaintiffs' boards of directors to comply with association bylaws authorizing them to initiate litigation on behalf of the members deprived plaintiffs of legal standing to sue.
Civil complaint filed by various medical practices to recover damages and other relief for the State's failure to properly implement a new electronic payment system to reimburse plaintiffs for their services to Medicaid-eligible patients; whether the trial court erred in dismissing plaintiffs' complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction because plaintiffs did not exhaust their administrative remedies before filing a civil suit.
Civil action for breach of contract and related claims; whether plaintiff was entitled to voluntarily dismiss its case under Civil Procedure Rule 41(a)(1) after end of summary judgment hearing but before the court issued its ruling; whether the trial court erred in entering summary judgment for defendants.
Whether defendant's conviction for attempted first-degree murder should be vacated on double jeopardy grounds.
Minor child; adjudication of neglect and dispositional order ceasing reunification efforts; whether clear and convincing evidence supported findings of fact on which the order was based.
Action for inverse condemnation pursuant to N.C.G.S. 40A-51 based upon the flooding of plaintiffs' property by water from an adjacent City-owned lake.
Subrogation action to recover money paid under the UIM coverage provision of a policy issued by plaintiff after plaintiff's insureds obtained a settlement from another fully insured third-party tortfeasor; whether plaintiff's claim should have been dismissed based on the three-year statute of limitations for breach of contract actions; when the claim accrued.
Appeal from trial court's denial of defendant's motion to suppress evidence found during a traffic stop; whether the police officer unconstitutionally prolonged the stop in violation of the Supreme Court of the United States' decision in Rodriguez v. United States.
Appeal from interlocutory order of N.C. Business Court approving a Settlement Agreement entered in one of a series of lawsuits; whether the claimant was inappropriately granted secured status as part of her settlement with the Receiver administering defendants' assets; whether the court abused its discretion in approving the settlement.
Whether, during a trial for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, the trial court properly admitted testimony regarding defendant's prior possession of a firearm under Rule 404(b); whether that testimony was unfairly prejudicial and therefore should have been excluded under Rule 403; whether the Court of Appeals erred by reviewing for prejudicial error as opposed to plain error.
Whether defendant was entitled to a self-defense instruction based on N.C.G.S. 14-51.2, the 'castle doctrine.'
Appeal from interlocutory order of N.C. Business Court approving a Settlement Agreement entered in one of a series of lawsuits; whether the claimant was inappropriately granted secured status as part of her settlement with the Receiver administering defendants' assets; whether the court abused its discretion in approving the settlement.
Whether the trial court erred in denying defendant's motion to dismiss a charge of aiding and abetting larceny based on insufficient evidence.
Termination of parental rights; whether the mother willfully abandoned the juvenile as defined in subdivision 7B-1111(a)(7) of the Juvenile Code.
Mandate: 15 February 2018
Zip File of Published Opinions
Headnote Index: 26 January 2018
Case Title / Description
Constitutional challenge to 2017 law replacing State Board of Elections and State Ethics Commission with Bipartisan State Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement.