STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA
v. Rowan County
No. 97 CRS 17756
GARY LAMONT HICKSON
Attorney General Roy Cooper, by Assistant Attorney General
Christopher W. Brooks, for the State.
George E. Kelly, III, for defendant-appellant.
THORNBURG, Judge.
On 5 January 1998, defendant was indicted for first degree
murder. On 22 April 1999, defendant entered an Alford plea of
guilty to second degree murder pursuant to a plea agreement with
the State. At the sentencing hearing, the trial court found that
defendant had 10 prior record level points and sentenced him as a
Class B2, Level IV felon to a term of 216 to 269 months'
imprisonment. On 19 April 2002, this Court allowed defendant's
petition for writ of certiorari. In allowing defendant's petition,
the Court specifically limited the appeal “to those issues that
could have been raised on direct appeal pursuant to [G.S.] 15A-
1444(a2).” Defendant first argues that the trial court erred in accepting
his guilty plea without first complying with all the statutory
requirements for accepting a guilty plea under N.C. Gen. Stat. §
15A-1022. This argument is outside the scope of N.C. Gen. Stat. §
15A-1444(a2), which grants to defendants who pled guilty the right
to appeal specific sentencing issues. Therefore, this assignment
of error and argument is outside the scope of this Court's 19 April
2002 order allowing defendant's petition for writ of certiorari.
Accordingly, we dismiss defendant's assignment of error.
Defendant next argues that the trial court erred in finding
that defendant had attained a prior record level of IV. Defendant
argues that the State failed to prove the existence of the
convictions listed in his prior record level worksheet. We agree.
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 15A-1340.14 provides that the State bears
the burden of proving by the preponderance of the evidence that “a
prior conviction exists and that the offender before the court is
the same person as the offender named in the prior conviction.”
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 15A-1340.14(f) (2003). A defendant's prior
convictions may be proven by any of the following methods:
(1) Stipulation of the parties.
(2) An original or copy of the court record of
the prior conviction.
(3) A copy of records maintained by the
Division of Criminal Information, the Division
of Motor Vehicles, or of the Administrative
Office of the Courts.
(4) Any other method found by the court to be
reliable.
Id. See also State v. Riley, 159 N.C. App. 546, 556, 583 S.E.2d
379, 386 (2003).
In the instant case, the State presented no evidence in
accordance with the above statute. The State's only evidence was
the prior record level worksheet filled out by the prosecutor and
unsupported statements that defendant had a prior record level of
IV. A statement by the State that an offender has ten points, and
thus is a record level IV, if only supported by a prior record
level worksheet, “is not sufficient to meet the catchall provision
found in N.C.G.S. § 15A-1340.14(f)(4), even if uncontested by
defendant.” Riley, 159 N.C. App. at 557, 583 S.E.2d at 387
(internal citations omitted). Accordingly, we remand for a
resentencing hearing.
No error at trial; remanded for resentencing.
Judges HUDSON and McCULLOUGH concur.
Report per Rule 30(e).
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