State v. Curtis , 371 N.C. 355 ( 2018 )

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF NORTH CAROLINA
No. 441PA16
Filed 17 August 2018
STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA
v.
MARIAN OLIVIA CURTIS
On discretionary review pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 7A-31 of a unanimous,
unpublished decision of the Court of Appeals, ___ N.C. App. ___, 794 S.E.2d 561
(2016), affirming an order signed on 9 February 2016 by Judge Michael Duncan in
Superior Court, Caldwell County. Heard in the Supreme Court on 6 November 2017.
Joshua H. Stein, Attorney General, by Christopher W. Brooks, Special Deputy
Attorney General, for the State-appellant.
Wilson, Lackey & Rohr, P.C., by Timothy J. Rohr, for defendant-appellee.
JACKSON, Justice.
In this case we consider whether the two-year statute of limitations in N.C.G.S.
§ 15-1 bars the State from prosecuting defendant Marian Olivia Curtis for the
misdemeanor offense of driving while impaired (DWI) when the State did not charge
defendant by indictment or presentment and did not commence prosecution within
that period. Because we conclude that other valid criminal pleadings listed in
N.C.G.S. § 15A-921, including the citation issued to defendant in this case, toll the
section 15-1 statute of limitations, we reverse the decision of the Court of Appeals
STATE V. CURTIS
Opinion of the Court
affirming the superior court’s order affirming the district court’s order of dismissal
and we remand this case for further proceedings.
On 1 August 2012, defendant was cited for DWI. Defendant was also charged
with driving left of center and possession of a Schedule II controlled substance. A
magistrate’s order was issued on 9 August 2012. On 21 April 2015, defendant filed
with the District Court, Caldwell County her Objection to Trial on Citation and
Motion for Statement of Charges and Motion to Dismiss. In her motion defendant
argued that, because she was filing a pretrial objection pursuant to N.C.G.S.
§ 15A-922(c) to trial on a citation, the State typically would be required by the statute
to file a statement of charges; however, because section 15-1 establishes a two-year
statute of limitations for misdemeanors, defendant contended that her charges must
be dismissed instead. That same day, the district court issued a Preliminary
Indication that “defendant was never charged via indictment, presentment, or
warrant,” that “[t]he statute of limitations ha[d] not been tolled,” and that “[i]t has
been more than two years since the alleged date of [the] offense.” Consequently, the
district court determined that the statute of limitations in section 15-1 barred further
prosecution of defendant and thus dismissed the charges.
On 29 April 2015, the State appealed the district court’s Preliminary Indication
to Superior Court, Caldwell County and moved for an order denying defendant’s
motion to dismiss on the basis that the magistrate’s order served to toll the section
-2-
STATE V. CURTIS
Opinion of the Court
15-1 statute of limitations. The superior court issued an order on 1 October 2015
affirming the district court’s Preliminary Indication, granting defendant’s motion to
dismiss, and remanding the case to the district court for entry of a final order
dismissing the DWI charge. The district court entered the final order of dismissal on
15 October 2015, and on appeal to superior court, that final order was affirmed in an
order signed on 9 February 2016. The State appealed the superior court’s decision to
the Court of Appeals.
Having determined that the procedural and legal issues in this case were
identical to those before it in State v. Turner, ___ N.C. App. ___, 793 S.E.2d 287 (2016),
the Court of Appeals adopted its reasoning in Turner and held that the district court
had not erred in granting defendant’s motion to dismiss. State v. Curtis, ___ N.C.
App. ___, 794 S.E.2d 561, 2016 WL 7100635, at *1 (2016) (unpublished). Therefore,
we look to Turner, which is also before this Court on appeal, for the reasoning of the
Court of Appeals.1
The facts in Turner are substantially similar to those in this case. On 7 August
2012, the defendant, Christopher Glenn Turner, received a citation for driving while
impaired, was arrested and brought before a magistrate who issued a magistrate’s
1 We allowed discretionary review of the decision of the Court of Appeals in Turner
on 16 March 2017. For the reasons stated in our opinion here, we have filed a per curiam
opinion reversing and remanding the decision of the Court of Appeals in Turner. See State
v. Turner, ___ N.C. ___, ___ S.E.2d ___ (Aug. 17, 2018) (No. 440PA16).
-3-
STATE V. CURTIS
Opinion of the Court
order, and was never charged by indictment, presentment, or warrant. Turner, ___
N.C. App. at ___, 793 S.E.2d at 288. On 26 November 2014, the defendant moved to
dismiss the charges on grounds that the statute of limitations in section 15-1 had
expired. Id. at ___, 793 S.E.2d at 288. As in this case, the charge ultimately was
dismissed and the State appealed that decision to the Court of Appeals. Id. at ___,
793 S.E.2d at 288. The Court of Appeals reasoned that section 15-1 creates a two-
year statute of limitations for the misdemeanors listed therein because it provides
that “[t]he crimes of deceit and malicious mischief, and the crime of petit larceny
where the value of the property does not exceed five dollars ($5.00), and all
misdemeanors except malicious misdemeanors, shall be presented or found by the
grand jury within two years after the commission of the same.” Id. at ___, 793 S.E.2d
at 289 (emphasis omitted) (quoting N.C.G.S. § 15-1 (2015)). Because the Court of
Appeals determined that this statutory language was both explicit and clear, the
court concluded that it “must give [the statute] its plain and definite meaning,” and
was “without power to interpolate, or superimpose, provisions and limitations not
contained therein.” Id. at ___, 793 S.E.2d at 290 (quoting State v. Williams, 218 N.C.
App. 450, 451, 725 S.E.2d 7, 8-9 (2012)). The Court of Appeals also relied on this
Court’s determination regarding section 15-1 in State v. Hedden that “[t]here is no
saving clause in this statute as to the effect of preliminary warrants before a justice
of the peace or other committing magistrate, and in our opinion on the facts of this
record the law must be construed and applied as written.” Id. at ___, 793 S.E.2d at
-4-
STATE V. CURTIS
Opinion of the Court
289 (quoting Hedden, 187 N.C. 803, 805, 123 S.E. 65, 65 (1924) (footnote omitted)).
Consequently, the Court of Appeals held that “the State had two years to either
commence the prosecution of its case, or to issue a warrant, indictment, or
presentment which would toll the statute of limitations,” and affirmed dismissal of
the DWI charge against the defendant because the State failed to pursue either
course within that period. Id. at ___, 793 S.E.2d at 290.
On 16 March 2017, we allowed the State’s petition for discretionary review of
the decision of the Court of Appeals in this case. Before this Court, the State argues
that any criminal pleading that establishes jurisdiction in the district court should
toll the two-year statute of limitations in section 15-1 and therefore, that the Court
of Appeals erred in holding that the State was barred from prosecuting this action
due to expiration of the statute of limitations. We agree.
The issue before us is one of statutory interpretation. “The primary goal of
statutory construction is to effectuate the purpose of the legislature in enacting the
statute.” Liberty Mut. Ins. Co. v. Pennington, 356 N.C. 571, 574, 573 S.E.2d 118, 121
(2002) (citations omitted). “The legislative purpose of a statute is first ascertained
by examining the statute’s plain language.” Id. at 574, 573 S.E.2d at 121 (quoting
Correll v. Div. of Soc. Servs., 332 N.C. 141, 144, 418 S.E.2d 232, 235 (1992)). We “give
the statute its plain meaning” when the statutory language is clear, but when the
meaning of the statute is ambiguous or unclear, we “must interpret the statute to
-5-
STATE V. CURTIS
Opinion of the Court
give effect to the legislative intent.” Frye Reg’l Med. Ctr., Inc. v. Hunt, 350 N.C. 39,
45, 510 S.E.2d 159, 163 (1999) (citing Burgess v. Your House of Raleigh, Inc., 326 N.C.
205, 209, 388 S.E.2d 134, 136-37 (1990)). Moreover, when “a literal interpretation of
the language of a statute will lead to absurd results, or contravene the manifest
purpose of the Legislature, as otherwise expressed, the reason and purpose of the law
shall control and the strict letter thereof shall be disregarded.” Id. at 45, 510 S.E.2d
at 163 (quoting Mazda Motors of Am., Inc. v. Sw. Motors, Inc., 296 N.C. 357, 361, 250
S.E.2d 250, 253 (1979)).
Before its 1971 revision, our state constitution established that “[n]o person
shall be put to answer any criminal charge, except as hereinafter allowed, but by
indictment, presentment, or impeachment.” N.C. Const. of 1868, art. I, § 12. From
1943 until 2017, section 15-1 stated that “all misdemeanors except malicious
misdemeanors, shall be presented or found by the grand jury within two years after
the commission of the same, and not afterwards.” N.C.G.S. § 15-1 (2015).2 In State
v. Hundley we recognized that this statute specifically “refers to criminal
prosecutions based on grand jury action.” 272 N.C. 491, 493, 158 S.E.2d 582, 583
(1968). That view was based, at least in part, on our earlier decision in State v.
2 While our decision in this case was pending, the General Assembly amended section
15-1 to provide that “all misdemeanors except malicious misdemeanors, shall be charged
within two years after the commission of the same, and not afterwards.” Act of Oct. 5, 2017,
ch. 212, sec. 5.3, 2017 N.C. Sess. Laws 1565, 1579 (codified at N.C.G.S. § 15-1 (2017)).
-6-
STATE V. CURTIS
Opinion of the Court
Underwood. See id. at 493, 158 S.E.2d at 583 (citing Underwood, 244 N.C. 68, 70, 92
S.E.2d 461, 463 (1956)).
In Underwood a defendant moved to quash a warrant for driving while under
the influence when, after appealing to the superior court from his conviction in the
Recorder’s Court of Harnett County based upon that warrant, the superior court did
not hear his case and the State did not obtain a bill of indictment or presentment
within two years of the commission of the crime charged. 244 N.C. at 69, 92 S.E.2d
at 461-62. In considering whether the statute of limitations in section 15-1 entitled
the defendant to such relief, we necessarily addressed our previous decision on this
topic in State v. Hedden, which defendant points to in support of her motion to dismiss
here. See id. at 70, 92 S.E.2d at 463. In Hedden we had considered whether the
statute of limitations that was the predecessor to section 15-1 could be tolled by a
magistrate’s warrant.3 187 N.C. at 804-05, 123 S.E. at 65-66. We determined:
There is no saving clause in this statute as to the
effect of preliminary warrants before a justice of the peace
3 Similar to the version of section 15-1 in effect during the events giving rise to this
case, section 4512 of the Consolidated Statutes provided:
All misdemeanors, and petit larceny where the value of the
property does not exceed five dollars, except the offenses of
perjury, forgery, malicious mischief, and other malicious
misdemeanors, deceit, and the offense of being accessory after
the fact, now made a misdemeanor, shall be presented or found
by the grand jury within two years after the commission of the
same, and not afterwards.
1 N.C. Cons. Stat. § 4512 (1919).
-7-
STATE V. CURTIS
Opinion of the Court
or other committing magistrate, and in our opinion on the
facts of this record the law must be construed and applied
as written. There must be a presentment or indictment
within two years from the time of the offense committed
and not afterwards.
Id. at 805, 123 S.E. at 65. In Underwood, though, we distinguished Hedden on the
basis that the committing magistrate who issued the warrant “did not have final
jurisdiction of the offense charged but bound the defendant over to the Superior
Court. Consequently, the defendant could not have been tried in the Superior Court
on the original warrant, but only upon a bill of indictment.” Underwood, 244 N.C. at
70, 92 S.E.2d at 463.4 We determined that section 15-1 directed only that “[i]n
criminal cases where an indictment or presentment is required, the date on which the
indictment or presentment has been brought or found by the grand jury marks the
beginning of the criminal proceeding and arrests the statute of limitations.” Id. at
70, 92 S.E.2d at 463 (emphasis added) (citing N.C.G.S. § 15-1). We then held that:
[I]n all misdemeanor cases, where there has been a
conviction in an inferior court that had final jurisdiction of
the offense charged, upon appeal to the Superior Court the
accused may be tried upon the original warrant and that
the statute of limitations is tolled from the date of the
issuance of the warrant.
Id. at 70, 92 S.E.2d at 462.
4 In other words, because of the locality-specific structure and jurisdiction of the
inferior courts at the times that Underwood and Hedden were decided, the defendant in
Underwood could be tried to final judgment, convicted, and sentenced based upon the
warrant in that case, but the defendant in Hedden could only be held based upon the warrant
at issue pending further action by a grand jury. Therefore, the Underwood warrant had the
effect of tolling the statute of limitations and the Hedden preliminary warrant did not.
-8-
STATE V. CURTIS
Opinion of the Court
Defendant argues here that our holding in Underwood should be read to carve
out a single exception to the plain language of section 15-1 to allow warrants to toll
the statute of limitations. Defendant’s attempt to distinguish Underwood from the
present case elevates form over substance and is unpersuasive. Although our holding
in Underwood addressed the specific factual circumstances of that case, the critical
distinction we drew was more generally between crimes that require grand jury
action to convey jurisdiction to the trial court and crimes that do not. See Underwood,
244 N.C. at 70, 92 S.E.2d at 463. For the latter, it would be absurd to require the
State to charge a defendant by indictment or presentment in order to toll the statute
of limitations when the State has already obtained an otherwise valid criminal
pleading that conveys jurisdiction by satisfying the requirements of N.C.G.S. § 15A-
924(a). See State v. Brice, 370 N.C. 244, 249, 806 S.E.2d 32, 36 (2017) (explaining
that a criminal pleading is constitutionally sufficient and conveys jurisdiction to the
trial court when the pleading “clearly [ ] apprise[s] the defendant . . . of the conduct
which is the subject of the accusation” (quoting N.C.G.S. § 15A-924(a)(5) (2015))).
Since our decision in Underwood, the structure of the General Court of Justice
as well as the allocation of subject-matter jurisdiction and the types of pleadings that
may convey jurisdiction over criminal actions all have undergone substantive
changes. The extensive amendments to Article IV of the 1868 constitution that were
ratified in 1962 created the District Courts as a division of the new General Court of
Justice, see N.C. Const. of 1868, art. IV, §§ 1-2, 8 (1962), and granted to the General
-9-
STATE V. CURTIS
Opinion of the Court
Assembly the power to “by general law uniformly applicable in every local court
district of the State, prescribe the jurisdiction and powers of the District Courts,” id.
art. IV, § 10(3). In a provision that has remained unaltered since its enactment, the
General Assembly subsequently directed that “the district court has exclusive,
original jurisdiction for the trial of criminal actions, including municipal ordinance
violations, below the grade of felony, and the same are hereby declared to be petty
misdemeanors.” Compare N.C.G.S. § 7A-272(a) (Supp. 1965), with id. § 7A-272(a)
(2017). Following these changes in the structure and allocation of jurisdiction in the
General Court of Justice, the text of the provision formerly denominated as Article I,
Section 12 of the 1868 constitution was changed in the 1971 constitution to state that
“[e]xcept in misdemeanor cases initiated in the District Court Division, no person
shall be put to answer any criminal charge but by indictment, presentment, or
impeachment.” N.C. Const. art. I, § 22. As such, the General Statutes have directed
since 1975 that “[t]he citation, criminal summons, warrant for arrest, or magistrate’s
order serves as the pleading of the State for a misdemeanor prosecuted in the district
court, unless the prosecutor files a statement of charges, or there is objection to trial
on a citation.” Compare N.C.G.S. § 15A-922(a) (1975), with id. § 15A-922(a) (2017).
Defendant argues that the expansion of the scope of criminal pleadings for
misdemeanor offenses contemplated in Article I, Section 22 does not mean that the
scope of pleadings capable of tolling the two-year statute of limitations has also
expanded. If the General Assembly desired that effect, defendant contends that
-10-
STATE V. CURTIS
Opinion of the Court
section 15-1 would provide for it explicitly. Here defendant again draws an overly
technical distinction—one that fails to contemplate the purpose of the two-year
statute of limitations in light of development of our State’s laws governing criminal
procedure.
We have recognized that the purpose of a statute of limitations such as section
15-1 is to “provide predictable, legislatively enacted limits on prosecutorial delay,”
thereby serving as “the primary guarantee against bringing overly stale criminal
charges.” State v. Goldman, 311 N.C. 338, 343, 317 S.E.2d 361, 364 (1984) (quoting
United States v. Lovasco, 431 U.S. 783, 789, 97 S. Ct. 2044, 2048 (1977)). Because a
criminal citation may now serve as the State’s charging document for misdemeanors,
see N.C.G.S. § 15A-922(a); see also id. § 20-138.1(c)-(d) (2017) (stating that “[i]mpaired
driving as defined in this section is a misdemeanor,” and “[i]n any prosecution for
impaired driving, the pleading is sufficient if it states the time and place of the alleged
offense in the usual form and charges that the defendant drove a vehicle on a highway
or public vehicular area while subject to an impairing substance”), the purpose of the
statute of limitations was satisfied by issuance of the citation to defendant.
Here defendant received a citation for driving while subject to an impairing
substance. That citation was a constitutionally and statutorily proper criminal
pleading that conveyed jurisdiction to the district court to try defendant for the
misdemeanor crime charged. In light of our decision in Underwood, the changes to
-11-
STATE V. CURTIS
Opinion of the Court
criminal procedure and to our court system since the enactment of section 15-1, as
well as our understanding of the general purpose of a criminal statute of limitations,
we hold that the citation issued to defendant tolled the statute of limitations here.
We cannot conclude that the General Assembly intended the illogical result that an
otherwise valid criminal pleading that vests jurisdiction in the trial court would not
also toll the statute of limitations. Accordingly, we reverse the decision of the Court
of Appeals and remand this case to that court for remand to the Superior Court,
Caldwell County, with instructions to vacate the 9 February 2016 Order Affirming
District Court Order and for further proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion.
REVERSED AND REMANDED.
-12-