Court Opinion

ID: 9580582
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 22:06:25.325899+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:36:22.690528
License: Public Domain

TIMMONS-GOODSON, Judge,
dissenting.
Because I believe the State’s decision in this case violated defendant’s right to fundamental fairness and due process, I dissent.
The record reflects that after being charged with five counts of failure to file or pay withholding tax, defendant entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with the State on 19 July 2001. The agreement stated that defendant “acknowledge[d] [his] guilt in fact of the offense charged herein [,]” and that defendant understood that if he failed to cooperate with or perform the duties required of him, his “participation in the program w[ould] terminate, and [he] w[ould] be returned to court for sentencing of [his] case(s).” (emphasis in original). The corresponding court order again acknowledged that defendant was charged with five counts of failure to file or pay withholding tax, and it permitted entry of a deferred prosecution of the charges. The trial court found in pertinent part that “defendant has been apprised and understands [his] legal rights to a speedy trial, waives same, and allows the case(s) to be continued],]” and that “defendant acknowledges guilt in [his] case(s) and understands that non-compliance will result in sentencing.” (emphasis in original). Based upon these findings, the trial court approved the deferred prosecution and ordered that “sentencing in the case(s) is hereby stayed during the period of continuance].]”
Until January 2002, defendant thereafter complied with the terms of the agreement. On 2 August 2002, an assistant district attorney of the 21st Prosecutorial District notified defendant’s counsel that “[s]ince January 2002 [defendant] has not paid any monies towards *576his Deferred Prosecution Agreement” and that “[a]s a result his case has been set for sentencing .. . However, rather than proceeding to sentencing on the misdemeanor charges of failure to file or pay withholding tax, the State voluntarily dismissed the charges on. 6 September 2002. On 23 September 2003, defendant was indicted for aiding and abetting the embezzlement of state property, a felony.
The majority upholds the State’s decision to pursue prosecution for the felony charge rather than sentencing for the misdemeanor charges based upon the theory that a defendant’s agreement to the terms of a deferred prosecution is an admission of guilt in fact rather than guilt in law. However, recognizing the similarities between such agreements and ordinary contracts, I believe this Court should examine the plain language of the deferred prosecution agreement rather than the subjective intent of the parties entering into it. Here, as detailed above, the plain language of the agreement clearly defines defendant’s charges, imposes certain duties upon him, and states that if he fails to cooperate with or perform those duties, he will be returned to court for sentencing of his “case(s).” The “case(s)” referred to in the agreement are detailed as “[t]his case coming on to be heard before the undersigned presiding judge, wherein [defendant] is charged with the criminal offense of 5 cts fail to file/Pay Income tax.” There is no indication that “case(s)” refers to the felony charge thereafter sought by the State, dr any other charge. By unilaterally engrafting the additional felony charge into the agreement, I believe the State violated defendant’s right to fundamental fairness and due process.
In Lassiter v. Department of Social Services, 452 U.S. 18, 68 L. Ed. 2d 640 (1981), the United States Supreme Court recognized that
For all its consequence, “due process” has never been, and perhaps can never be, precisely defined. “[UJnlike some legal rules,” this Court has said, due process “is not a technical conception with a fixed content unrelated to time, place and circumstances.” Rather, the phrase expresses the requirement of “fundamental fairness,” a requirement whose meaning can be as opaque as its importance is lofty. Applying the Due Process Clause is therefore an uncertain enterprise which must discover what “fundamental fairness” consists of in a particular situation by first considering any relevant precedents and then by assessing the several interests that are at stake.
Id. at 24-25, 68 L. Ed. 2d at 648 (citation omitted).
*577In North Carolina, although deferred prosecutions are becoming increasingly more common (most often in those situations where a first-time offender faces narcotics or driving under the influence charges), our courts have yet to address the numerous issues involved in the execution and satisfaction of their underlying agreements. Nevertheless, the fundamental idea of a deferred prosecution is clear: the defendant agrees to perform certain duties and conditions placed upon him by the trial court, in exchange for the State’s agreement to dismiss the defendant’s charges upon his or her completion of those duties. In the instant case, although he initially complied with the duties and conditions placed upon him, defendant failed to complete those requirements listed in the deferred prosecution agreement. Thus, by virtue of its terms, the State was well within its rights to thereafter pursue sentencing on the charges detailed in the agreement. However, the State chose instead to dismiss the misdemeanor charges and pursue conviction on a felony charge. As discussed above, this decision was counter to the express terms of the agreement both relied upon by defendant and adopted by the parties. Because I conclude this decision was also counter to the right to fundamental fairness and due process granted by our Constitution, I would reverse defendant’s conviction for aiding and abetting the embezzlement of state property. Accordingly, I dissent.