State v. Courtney

Decision Date16 August 2019
Docket NumberNo. 160PA18,160PA18
Citation372 N.C. 458,831 S.E.2d 260
Parties STATE of North Carolina v. James Harold COURTNEY, III
CourtNorth Carolina Supreme Court

372 N.C. 458
831 S.E.2d 260

STATE of North Carolina
v.
James Harold COURTNEY, III

No. 160PA18

Supreme Court of North Carolina.

Filed August 16, 2019


Joshua H. Stein, Attorney General, by Jess D. Mekeel, Special Deputy Attorney General, and Benjamin O. Zellinger, Assistant Attorney General, for the State-appellant.

Glenn Gerding, Appellate Defender, by Amanda S. Zimmer, Assistant Appellate Defender, for defendant-appellee.

Tin Fulton Walker & Owen, PLLC, Charlotte, by Matthew G. Pruden ; and Devereux & Banzhoff, PLLC, Asheville, by Andrew B. Banzhoff, for North Carolina Advocates for Justice, amicus curiae.

HUDSON, Justice

831 S.E.2d 262
372 N.C. 459

This case comes to us by way of the State's appeal from a unanimous decision of the Court of Appeals holding that defendant's right to be free from double jeopardy was violated when the State voluntarily dismissed defendant's charge after his first trial ended in a hung jury mistrial. Defendant was retried nearly six years later, after new evidence emerged. The State argues that jeopardy is deemed never to have attached because of the mistrial, so that defendant was not in jeopardy at the time that his second trial began. In the alternative, the State argues that, even if defendant remained in jeopardy following the mistrial, the State's voluntary dismissal without leave did not terminate that jeopardy and that the State was not barred from trying the defendant a second time. We are not persuaded by either of the State's arguments and, thus, affirm the Court of Appeals.

Today we recognize, in accordance with double jeopardy principles set out by this Court and the United States Supreme Court, that jeopardy attaches when the jury is empaneled and continues following a mistrial until a terminating event occurs. We hold that when the State enters a voluntary dismissal under N.C.G.S. § 15A-931 after jeopardy has attached, jeopardy is terminated in the defendant's favor, regardless of the reason the State gives for entering the dismissal. The State cannot then retry the case without violating a defendant's right to be free from double jeopardy. When the State dismisses a charge under section 15A-931 after jeopardy has attached, jeopardy terminates. Thus, we affirm the decision of the Court of Appeals vacating defendant's conviction on double jeopardy grounds and remand to the trial court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

Background

Defendant was arrested on 2 November 2009 for the murder of James Carol Deberry, which was committed three days earlier on 31 October 2009; he was indicted on 30 November 2009. Defendant's trial began on 6 December 2010, at which point a jury was empaneled and evidence presented. On 9 December 2010, the trial court declared a mistrial after the jury foreperson reported that the jury was hopelessly deadlocked. Defendant was released the same day. Following the hung jury mistrial declaration, the trial court continued the case so the State could decide whether it would re-try defendant on the murder charge. The trial court held status hearings on 16 December 2010 and on 10 February 2011. The trial court's orders from both hearings noted that the case had ended in mistrial and that it would be continued to another status hearing for the

372 N.C. 460

State to decide whether it intended to re-try defendant. Ultimately, the State entered a dismissal of the murder charge against defendant on 14 April 20111 , by filing form AOC-CR-307 with the trial court. Like many similar forms, form AOC-CR-307 includes multiple options; the State may use the form to enter a dismissal, a dismissal with leave, or a notice of reinstatement for a case that had previously been dismissed with leave. The State left blank the sections for dismissal with leave and reinstatement but checked the box in the "dismissal" section next to the statement "[t]he undersigned prosecutor enters a dismissal to the above charge(s) and assigns the following reasons." The State checked the box marked "other" in the list of reasons for dismissal and wrote underneath: "hung jury, state has elected not to re-try case." In addition, the State modified a statement on the form to reflect the circumstances so that it reads: "A jury has not been impaneled nor and has evidence [sic] been introduced." The State's

831 S.E.2d 263

voluntary dismissal of the charge was signed by the prosecutor.

Several years passed, and the State discovered additional evidence related to the case. In 2013 and 2014, fingerprints and DNA from a cigarette found at the scene of the murder were found to belong to an individual named Ivan McFarland. A review of the cell phone activity for McFarland and defendant revealed that defendant had McFarland's cell phone number in his phone, that five calls had been made between the two phones on the night of the murder, and that cell phone tower data placed both men in the vicinity near where the murder occurred.

A second warrant for defendant's arrest for murder was issued on 16 June 2015, and defendant was re-indicted on 6 July 2015.2 On 7 October 2016, defendant filed a motion to dismiss the indictment based on N.C.G.S. § 15A-931, the voluntary dismissal statute, on estoppel and double jeopardy grounds, as well as a second motion to dismiss the murder charge for violating defendant's rights to a speedy trial under the state and federal constitutions. On 10 October 2016, the trial court in open court denied defendant's motion to dismiss based

372 N.C. 461

on double jeopardy.3 Defendant was tried for the second time 31 October 2016 through 9 November 2016 in the Superior Court in Wake County. At that trial, the jury found defendant guilty of second-degree murder, and the trial court sentenced defendant to between 220 and 273 months in prison.

Defendant appealed to the Court of Appeals, where he argued that his right to be free from double jeopardy was violated when the State re-tried him on the same charge following its voluntary dismissal of the charge after defendant's first trial ended in a hung jury mistrial. In a unanimous opinion filed on 15 May 2018, the Court of Appeals agreed with defendant that his second prosecution violated the Double Jeopardy Clause of the United States Constitution. State v. Courtney , ––– N.C.App. ––––, 817 S.E.2d 412, 422 (2018) The Court of Appeals noted that the Double Jeopardy Clause does not prevent the State from retrying a defendant following a hung jury mistrial, but it listed three categories of jeopardy-terminating events that do bar a subsequent prosecution—jury acquittals, judicial acquittals, and "certain non-defense-requested terminations of criminal proceedings, such as non-procedural dismissals or improperly declared mistrials, that for double jeopardy purposes are functionally equivalent to acquittals." Id. at 418 (citing Lee v. United States , 432 U.S. 23, 30, 97 S. Ct. 2141, 2145, 53 L. Ed. 2d 80, 87 (1977) ; United States v. Scott , 437 U.S. 82, 99–100, 98 S. Ct. 2187, 2198, 57 L. Ed. 2d 65, 79–80 (1978) ). The panel concluded that the dismissal entered by the State in this case fell within this third category, "interpret[ing] section 15A-931 as according that dismissal the same constitutional finality and conclusiveness as an acquittal for double jeopardy purposes." Id. at 419. Thus, the Court of Appeals concluded that the trial court had erred in denying defendant's motion to dismiss his 2015 indictment, and it vacated defendant's conviction.4 On 20 September 2018, we allowed the State's petition for discretionary review of the decision of the Court of Appeals.

372 N.C. 462

Analysis

The Double Jeopardy Clause of the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution states that "[n]o person shall ... be subject for the same offence to be twice put

831 S.E.2d 264

in jeopardy of life or limb[.]" U.S. Const. amend. V. The U.S. Constitution's guaranty against double jeopardy applies to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment, see Benton v. Maryland , 395 U.S. 784, 794, 89 S. Ct. 2056, 2062, 23 L. Ed. 2d 707, 716 (1969), and we have long recognized that the Law of the Land Clause found in our state's constitution also contains a prohibition against double jeopardy, N.C. Const. art. I, § 19 ; State v. Sanderson , 346 N.C. 669, 676, 488 S.E.2d 133, 136 (1997) ; see also State v. Crocker , 239 N.C. 446, 80 S.E.2d 243 (1954). "The underlying idea [of this constitutional protection] is that the State with all its resources and power should not be allowed to make repeated attempts to convict an individual for an alleged offense, thereby subjecting him to embarrassment, expense and ordeal and compelling him to live in a continuing state of anxiety and insecurity, as well as enhancing the possibility that even though innocent he may be found guilty." Green v. United States , 355 U.S. 184, 187–88, 78 S. Ct. 221, 223, 2 L. Ed. 2d 199, 204 (1957). In situations where jeopardy has not attached or where, having attached, jeopardy has not yet been terminated, the State retains the power to proceed with a...

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  • State v. Robinson
    • United States
    • North Carolina Supreme Court
    • August 14, 2020
    ...with all its resources and power should not be allowed to make repeated attempts to convict an individual." State v. Courtney , 372 N.C. 458, 462, 831 S.E.2d 260, 264 (2019) (quoting Green v. United States , 355 U.S. 184, 187–88, 78 S. Ct. 221, 223, 2 L.Ed.2d 199 (1957) ). To allow it to do......
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    • North Carolina Court of Appeals
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    ...of whether this is the case procedurally, it is not true of trials for double jeopardy purposes. See, e.g., State v. Courtney , 372 N.C. 458, 463, 831 S.E.2d 260, 265 (2019) ("[J]eopardy attaches when a jury is sworn[.]" (citing Richardson v. United States , 468 U.S. 317, 326, 104 S.Ct. 308......
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