Court Opinion

ID: 9846035
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 03:33:10.106205+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:16:31.525918
License: Public Domain

TYSON, Judge
concurring in part and concurring in the result in part.
I concur in that portion of the majority’s opinion which affirms the entry of default and vacates the entry of default judgment due to insufficient evidence of personal jurisdiction as required by N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1-75.11.
I agree with the majority’s opinion that proof of service of summons does not, by itself, satisfy both requirements of N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1-75.11. Hill v. Hill, 11 N.C. App. 1, 8-9, 180 S.E.2d 424, 429, cert. denied, 279 N.C. 348, 182 S.E.2d 580 (1971). I disagree, however, with dicta in the majority’s opinion which asserts that issues not presented to this Court or argued by the parties are being addressed. Defendant Combs specifically assigned error to the trial court’s entry of default judgment and argued plaintiff failed to comply with the requirements of N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1-75.11. Therefore, this issue is properly before this Court.
The record before us contains three affidavits which were before the trial court on defendant’s motion to set aside the default judgment. These affidavits were not before the trial court when it entered default judgment but provide the required proof of personal jurisdiction over defendant Combs to satisfy the requirements of N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1-75.11.
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1-75.4 (2003) states:
A court of this State . . . has jurisdiction over a person . . . under any of the following circumstances:
*627(1) Local Presence or Status. — In any action, whether the claim arises within or without this State, in which a claim is asserted against a party who when service of process is made upon such party:

a. Is a natural -person present within this State.

(emphasis supplied).
The sworn affidavits of: (1) C.L. Overcash, Deputy Sheriff of Guilford County, who actually served defendant Combs at the GCC; (2) J.E. Hinson, Jr., an officer with the Greensboro Police Department, who was working off-duty at the GCC and physically present to witness the service on the night defendant Combs was served; and (3) Erik W. Schneider, Security Supervisor at GCC on the night of the incident, who escorted defendant Combs to his dressing room after his performance and witnessed the service, show defendant Combs was properly served and served while physically present within the State of North Carolina. If a defendant who is a “natural person” is served with process while “present within this State,” the court possesses the jurisdiction to enter a “judgment against a party personally,” based upon jurisdictional grounds set forth in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1-75.4. See N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1.75.3 (2003); see also Hill, 11 N.C. App. at 8-9, 180 S.E.2d at 429.
We all agree that proof of service of summons was sufficient and entry of default was proper. Since, however, the complaint is unverified and the affidavits before the trial court when it entered judgment by default against defendant Combs were insufficient to show personal jurisdiction over defendant, the default judgment must be vacated.
However, the affidavits of C.L. Overcash, J.E. Hinson, Jr., and Erik W. Schneider show defendant Combs was properly served while physically present in Greensboro, North Carolina; provide the trial court with personal jurisdiction over defendant Combs pursuant to N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1-75.4; and satisfy the requirements of N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1-75.11.