Title: State v. Cook
Citation: 158 S.E.2d 820, 272 N.C. 728
Docket Number: 741
State: north-carolina
Issuer: north-carolina Supreme Court
Date: February 2, 1968

158 S.E.2d 820 (1968) 272 N.C. 728 STATE of North Carolina v. William Mclver COOK. No. 741. Supreme Court of North Carolina. February 2, 1968. *821 Atty. Gen. T. W. Bruton, Asst. Atty. Gen., Wm. W. Melvin, and Staff Attorney T. Buie Costen, for the State. Blackwell M. Brogden, Durham, for defendant. BRANCH, Justice. G.S. § 20-28(a) in pertinent part provides: The Court considered the validity of a warrant which purported to charge a violation of G.S. § 20-28(a) in State v. Sossamon, 259 N.C. 374, 130 S.E.2d 638. There the warrant charged: Upon trial in Superior Court the jury returned a verdict of "Guilty of operating a motor vehicle on the public highways during and while his license was revoked." Defendant's motion in arrest of judgment was denied. From judgment entered on the verdict, defendant appealed. Holding that failure to allege the operation occurred while such license was suspended or revoked was a fatal defect, the Court arrested *822 judgment and, speaking through Bobbitt, J., stated: To constitute a violation of G.S. 20-28(a) there must be (1) operation of a motor vehicle by a person (2) on a public highway (3) while his operator's license is suspended or revoked. State v. Blacknell, 270 N.C. 103, 153 S.E.2d 789. In the instant case the warrant does not charge that defendant operated a motor vehicle on a public highway. Thus the warrant fails to allege an essential element of the offense as defined in G.S. § 20-28(a). This defect is not cured by reference in the warrant to the statute. The reference shows intent to charge a violation of the statute, but "merely charging in general terms a breach of the statute and referring to it in the indictment is not sufficient." State v. Sossamon, supra. Since it appears on the face of the warrant that an essential element of the offense defined in G.S. § 20-28(a) has not been alleged, we hold the warrant to be fatally defective. The judgment must be arrested, but this does not bar further prosecution on a valid warrant. State v. Sossamon, supra. Judgment arrested.