Supreme Court of North Carolina, 1971

State v. Smith

Supreme Court of North Carolina · Decided October 13, 1971 · Sharp

183 S.E.2d 649; 279 N.C. 505; 1971 N.C. LEXIS 861 (South Eastern Reporter, Second Series)

Cases that cite this one

8 later published cases cite this decision.

State v. Alexander (N.C. 2022)
State v. Alexander (N.C. 2022)
State v. Alexander (N.C. Ct. App. 2020)
State v. Alexander (N.C. Ct. App. 2020)
State v. Koonce (N.C. Ct. App. 2009)
State v. Hughes (N.C. Ct. App. 1999)
State v. Dixon (N.C. 1973)
State v. Ford (N.C. Ct. App. 1971)

This list shows which later cases cite this one. It does not say how they treated it, and no review of that has been done. Not a substitute for Shepard’s or KeyCite — verify before relying.

Opinion

SHARP, Justice.

Defendant’s case on appeal contains no assignment of error. Therefore, unless error appears on the face of the record proper, the judgment will be sustained. State v. Williams, 268 N.C. 295, 150 S.E. 2d 447.

“A plea of nolo contendere, like a plea of guilty, leaves open for review only the sufficiency of the indictment and waives all defenses other than that the indictment charges no offense.” State v. Stokes, 274 N.C. 409, 412, 163 S.E. 2d 770, 773. The indictment in this case properly charges the crime of murder in the words of G.S. 15-144. The sentence of thirty years is within the limits prescribed by G.S. 14-17 for murder in the second degree.

Defendant’s counsel, the public defender, concedes there is no error in the case. Our examination of the entire transcript discloses another appeal totally without justification. See State v. Roberts, ante; State v. Darnell, 266 N.C. 640, 146 S.E. 2d 800.

No error.

Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.