Court Opinion

ID: 9570409
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 20:22:57.445848+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:07:26.874265
License: Public Domain

Chief Justice Sharp
concurring in result:
I concur in the Court’s decision that there was no error in defendant’s conviction of secret assault, a violation of G.S. 14-31, and felonious assault, a violation of G.S. 14-32(a). However, I deem it appropriate to point out that, because of fundamental differences between this case and State v. Richardson, 279 N.C. 621, 185 S.E. 2d 102 (1971), Richardson is not controlling here. Richardson involved the felonies of armed robbery and felonious assault. The gravamen of armed robbery is the theft of the victim’s property; the gravamen of felonious assault is injury to the victim’s person. In the present case, the gravamen of the two charges for which defendant has been convicted is one assault, a single act of violence with one purpose causing one injury. It was one assault which met the specifications of two statutes. Unlike some states, we have no statute which limits punishment to a single sentence in situations such as this. See 8 Wake Forest Law Rev. 243 (1972). However, the Court accomplished this result by imposing concurrent sentences.