IN THE SUPREME COURT OF NORTH CAROLINA No. 156A13 FILED 4 OCTOBER 2013 PAUL E. WALTERS v. ROY A. COOPER, III, in his official capacity as Attorney General for the State of North Carolina

Appeal pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 7A-30(2) from the decision of a divided panel of the Court of Appeals, ___ N.C. App. ___, 739 S.E.2d 185 (2013), reversing and remanding an order granting summary judgment for defendant entered on 23 July 2012 by Judge Quentin T. Sumner in Superior Court, Nash County. Heard in the Supreme Court on 5 September 2013.

Etheridge, Hamlett & Murray, L.L.P., by J. Richard Hamlett, II, for plaintiff- appellee.

Roy Cooper, Attorney General, by William P. Hart, Jr. and Lauren Tally Earnhardt, Assistant Attorneys General, for defendant-appellant.

PER CURIAM.

AFFIRMED.