{ "id": 4168119, "name": "STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA v. DANNY LEE DALTON, Defendant", "name_abbreviation": "State v. Dalton", "decision_date": "2009-06-02", "docket_number": "No. COA08-873", "first_page": "392", "last_page": "395", "citations": [ { "type": "official", "cite": "197 N.C. App. 392" } ], "court": { "name_abbreviation": "N.C. Ct. App.", "id": 14983, "name": "North Carolina Court of Appeals" }, "jurisdiction": { "id": 5, "name_long": "North Carolina", "name": "N.C." }, "cites_to": [ { "cite": "120 S. Ct. 38", "category": "reporters:federal", "reporter": "S. Ct.", "year": 1999, "opinion_index": 0 }, { "cite": "144 L. Ed. 2d 840", "category": "reporters:federal", "reporter": "L. Ed. 2d", "year": 1999, "opinion_index": 0 }, { "cite": "527 U.S. 1066", "category": "reporters:federal", "reporter": "U.S.", "case_ids": [ 1248192, 1248039, 1248221, 1248275, 1248347, 1248381, 1248447 ], "year": 1999, "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/us/527/1066-03", "/us/527/1066-07", "/us/527/1066-05", "/us/527/1066-04", "/us/527/1066-01", "/us/527/1066-06", "/us/527/1066-02" ] }, { "cite": "514 S.E.2d 724", "category": "reporters:state_regional", "reporter": "S.E.2d", "year": 1999, "pin_cites": [ { "page": "727" } ], "opinion_index": 0 }, { "cite": "350 N.C. 400", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "N.C.", "case_ids": [ 132119 ], "year": 1999, "pin_cites": [ { "page": "404-05" } ], "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/nc/350/0400-01" ] }, { "cite": "N.C. Gen. Stat. \u00a7 20-179", "category": "laws:leg_statute", "reporter": "N.C. Gen. Stat.", "weight": 13, "year": 2007, "pin_cites": [ { "page": "(al)(l)" }, { "page": "(c)" }, { "page": "(al)(l)" }, { "page": "(al)(l)" }, { "page": "(al)(l)" }, { "page": "(c)" }, { "page": "(c)" }, { "page": "(c)(l)(a)" }, { "page": "(al)(l)" }, { "page": "(al)(l)" }, { "page": "(al)(l)" }, { "page": "(al)(l)" } ], "opinion_index": 0 } ], "analysis": { "cardinality": 386, "char_count": 7239, "ocr_confidence": 0.744, "pagerank": { "raw": 4.03580807328026e-08, "percentile": 0.1363096844642294 }, "sha256": "30890e02821e6e9effc077262c512a218df597e7793606d51cd7c68d0a2e0c63", "simhash": "1:9d5e240db76af670", "word_count": 1187 }, "last_updated": "2023-07-14T21:19:41.072184+00:00", "provenance": { "date_added": "2019-08-29", "source": "Harvard", "batch": "2018" }, "casebody": { "judges": [ "Judges STEELMAN and STEPHENS concur." ], "parties": [ "STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA v. DANNY LEE DALTON, Defendant" ], "opinions": [ { "text": "GEER, Judge.\nDefendant Danny Lee Dalton was convicted of driving while impaired (\u201cDWI\u201d) and sentenced to 24 months imprisonment based on the trial court\u2019s finding of two grossly aggravating circumstances. On appeal, defendant contends that his sentence is improper because the State failed to give him 10 days notice of its intent to submit grossly aggravating factors, as required by N.C. Gen. Stat. \u00a7 20-179(al)(l) (2007). We hold that the trial court properly concluded that this notice provision did not apply in this case because defendant committed his offense prior to the effective date of the statute providing for 10 days notice. We, therefore, uphold defendant\u2019s judgment and commitment.\nFacts\nOn 16 March 2007, defendant was convicted of DWI in Forsyth County District Court. After defendant appealed to superior court, a jury also found defendant guilty of DWI. Prior to sentencing, the State announced that it intended to submit evidence of grossly aggravating factors pursuant to N.C. Gen. Stat. \u00a7 20-179(c). Defense counsel objected on the grounds that the State had not given defendant 10 days notice of its intent to submit those factors in accordance with the newly-amended N.C. Gen. Stat. \u00a7 20-179(al)(l). The trial court found that the amended version of N.C. Gen. Stat. \u00a7 20-179(al)(l) did not apply to the case, overruled defendant\u2019s objection, and permitted the State to submit evidence of grossly aggravating factors.\nThe trial court subsequently found as grossly aggravating factors defendant\u2019s two prior DWI convictions that had occurred within seven years of the charged offense. After finding no aggravating or mitigating factors, the trial court sentenced defendant to 24 months imprisonment. Defendant timely appealed to this Court.\nDiscussion\nDefendant\u2019s sole contention on appeal is that the trial court erred in ruling that N.C. Gen. Stat. \u00a7 20-179(al)(l), as amended, did not apply and that the State was not, therefore, required to give defendant at least 10 days notice of its intent to submit his prior convictions as grossly aggravating factors in sentencing. N.C. Gen. Stat. \u00a7 20-179(c) provides that \u201c[a]t the sentencing hearing [of a defendant convicted of an impaired driving offense], based upon the evidence presented at trial and in the hearing, the judge, or the jury in superior court, must first determine whether there are any grossly aggravating factors in the case.\u201d As was the situation in this case, it is the responsibility of the judge to determine the existence of any prior convictions that the statute sets out as constituting grossly aggravating factors. N.C. Gen. Stat. \u00a7 20-179(c). The statute specifies that grossly aggravating factors include a defendant\u2019s prior DWI conviction if that conviction \u201coccurred within seven years before the date of the offense for which the defendant is being sentenced.\u201d N.C. Gen. Stat. \u00a7 20-179(c)(l)(a).\nIn 2006, the General Assembly passed the Motor Vehicle Driver Protection Act (\u201cthe Act\u201d). 2006 N.C. Sess. Laws ch. 253. Section 23 of the Act created the provision relied upon by defendant by rewriting N.C. Gen. Stat. \u00a7 20-179(al)(l) to state:\nIf the defendant appeals to superior court, and the State intends to use one or more aggravating factors under subsections (c) or (d) of this section, the State must provide the defendant with notice of its intent. The notice shall be provided no later than 10 days prior to trial and shall contain a plain and concise factual statement indicating the factor or factors it intends to use under the authority of subsections (c) and (d) of this section. The notice must list all the aggravating factors that the State seeks to establish.\nId. sec. 23.\nAlthough defendant acknowledges that this Act was passed after the date of his offense, he argues that the statute relates to a mode of procedure and should, therefore, be applied retroactively. As defendant asserts, the Supreme Court held in State v. Green, 350 N.C. 400, 404-05, 514 S.E.2d 724, 727, cert. denied, 527 U.S. 1066, 144 L. Ed. 2d 840, 120 S. Ct. 38 (1999), that \u201cstatutes relating to modes of procedure are generally held to operate retroactively, where the statute or amendment does not contain language clearly evincing a contrary legislative intent.\u201d\nDefendant, however, in contending that the General Assembly did not express an intent contrary to retroactive application, has focused only on the statute as codified and has overlooked the dis-positive language contained in the Act itself. Section 33 of the Act specifically addresses the effective dates of the various sections of the Act and states:\nSections 20.1, 20.2, and the requirement that the Administrative Office of the Courts electronically record certain data contained in subsection (c) of G.S. 20-138.4, as amended by Section 19 of this act, become effective after the next rewrite of the superior court clerks system by the Administrative Office of the Courts. The remainder of this act becomes effective December 1, 2006, and applies to offenses committed on or after that date.\n(Emphasis added.)\nBy the terms of the Act, therefore, section 23 of the Act \u2014 creating the notice provisions in N.C. Gen. Stat. \u00a7 20-179(al)(l) \u2014 applies only to offenses committed on or after 1 December 2006. The date of defendant\u2019s offense was 27 May 2006. Accordingly, the trial court did not err in allowing the State to present evidence of grossly aggravating factors without having complied with the 10-day notice provisions of the amended N.C. Gen. Stat. \u00a7 20-179(al)(l).\nNo error.\nJudges STEELMAN and STEPHENS concur.\n. Defendant included in the record on appeal an assignment of error asserting that the State\u2019s failure to comply with N.C. Gen. Stat. \u00a7 20-179(al)(l) violated his due process rights. Although defendant cites this assignment of error in his brief, he does not present any argument on the issue. Therefore, we deem that assignment of error abandoned under N.C.R. App. R 28.\n. These effective dates were amended in 2007 N.C. Sess. Laws ch. 493 sec. 5 as to sections 6 and 23 only of the Motor Vehicle Driver Protection Act of 2006.", "type": "majority", "author": "GEER, Judge." } ], "attorneys": [ "Attorney General Roy Cooper, by Assistant Attorney General Jess D. Mekeel, for the State.", "David, Q. Burgess for defendant-appellant." ], "corrections": "", "head_matter": "STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA v. DANNY LEE DALTON, Defendant\nNo. COA08-873\n(Filed 2 June 2009)\nMotor Vehicles\u2014 impaired driving \u2014 sentencing\u2014notice of aggravating factors: \u2014 effective date of statute\nThe trial court did not err in an impaired driving prosecution by allowing the State to present evidence of grossly aggravating factors without having complied with the ten-day notice provisions of the amended N.C.G.S. \u00a7 20-179(al)(l). Although defendant acknowledged that the Motor Vehicle Driver Protection Act was passed after the date of his offense, he contended that the statute relates to a mode of procedure and should be applied retroactively. However, defendant focused only on the statute and overlooked the dispositive language in the Act, which had an effective date that was after the date of defendant\u2019s offense.\nAppeal by defendant from judgment entered 25 January 2008 by Judge William Z. Wood, Jr. in Forsyth County Superior Court. Heard in the Court of Appeals 15 January 2009.\nAttorney General Roy Cooper, by Assistant Attorney General Jess D. Mekeel, for the State.\nDavid, Q. Burgess for defendant-appellant." }, "file_name": "0392-01", "first_page_order": 422, "last_page_order": 425 }