State v. Simmons
State v. Simmons
Opinion
*141
On 16 May 2016, Walter Columbus Simmons (defendant) pled guilty to aggravated felony death by vehicle (AFDV) and felony hit and run (FHR). The judgment, however, inaccurately reflected that defendant pled guilty to felony serious injury by vehicle instead of FHR. Defendant later petitioned this Court to issue a writ of
certiorari
to review issues
*142
pertaining to his guilty plea.
See
State v. Simmons
, No. 16-1065,
In
Brice
, this Court held that the State's failure to comply with N.C. Gen. Stat. § 15A-928 's special-pleading requirement-that is, when a prior conviction or convictions constitute an element of a greater offense, that prior conviction or those convictions must be listed on a special indictment or information, or in a separate count-constituted a fatal jurisdictional defect. --- N.C. App. at ----,
On 28 August 2017, the State filed a petition for a writ of
supersedeas
and a motion for a temporary stay with the Supreme Court of North Carolina. On 15 September 2017, the State filed a petition for discretionary review. On 28 September 2017, defendant filed a response to the State's petition for discretionary review and a conditional request for discretionary review of an additional issue. On 7 December 2017, our Supreme Court dissolved the temporary stay, denied the State's petition for a writ of
supersedeas
, denied defendant's conditional petition for discretionary review, and allowed the State's petition for discretionary
*143
review for the limited purpose of remanding the case to this Court for reconsideration of our decision in
Simmons
in light of its decision in
State v. Brice
, --- N.C. ----,
On remand, after reviewing Brice , we conclude that defendant's alleged AFDV indictment error under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 15A-928 no longer implicates jurisdiction and, therefore, defendant has waived his right to appellate review of this issue by failing to object below. Accordingly, we modify our prior decision in Simmons and sustain the trial court's judgment and sentence with respect to the AFDV conviction. We remand for the limited *713 purpose of instructing the trial court to correct the clerical error in its judgment by reflecting that defendant pled guilty to FHR.
I. Analysis
In
Brice
, this Court held that the State's failure to comply with N.C. Gen. Stat. § 15A-928 's special-pleading requirement constituted a fatal jurisdictional defect. --- N.C. App. at ----,
On discretionary review, by written opinion filed 3 November 2017, our Supreme Court held that the State's failure to comply with N.C. Gen. Stat. § 15A-928 's special-pleading requirement did not implicate the trial court's jurisdiction.
Brice
, --- N.C. at ----,
In reconsideration of our decision, we are bound by our Supreme Court's holdings in
Brice
. As the preservation issue in this case is indistinguishable from
Brice
, we hold that because defendant failed to object below to the State's noncompliance with N.C. Gen. Stat. § 15A-928 's special-pleading requirement, he "is not entitled to seek relief based upon that indictment-related deficiency for the first time on appeal."
*144 II. Conclusion
After reconsideration of our prior decision in light of Brice , we conclude that defendant's failure to object below to the State's noncompliance with N.C. Gen. Stat. § 15A-928 waived his right to appellate review of this issue. Therefore, we hold that the trial court's prior judgment be reinstated. We remand for the limited purpose of instructing the trial court to correct the clerical error in its judgment by accurately reflecting that defendant pled guilty to FHR.
REMANDED FOR CORRECTION OF CLERICAL ERROR.
Judges INMAN and BERGER concur.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.