Court Opinion

ID: 9856333
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 06:45:12.843429+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:38:36.871788
License: Public Domain

Judge Wynn
concurring in the result only.
I disagree with our Court’s earlier determination in State v. Crain, 73 N.C. App. 269, 326 S.E.2d 120 (1985) that N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-87 does not require the imposition of consecutive sentences — for sentences imposed on multiple offenses under that section — where “the defendant is not yet serving a sentence for any of the counts at the time of the sentencing proceeding.” Id. at 271, 326 S.E.2d at 122. Instead, I agree with the State’s interpretation of § 14-87 that our legislature intended that consecutive sentences for armed robberies be mandatory under that section rather than discretionary under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 15A-1354(a). In that light, § 15A-1354(b) would have no application in this case because “the consecutive sentences were [not] imposed under the authority of [Article 15A].” N.C. Gen. Stat. 15A-1354(b).
*167Nevertheless, Crain represents binding precedence on this panel. See, In re Civil Penalty, 324 N.C. 373, 379 S.E.2d 30 (1989) (holding one panel may not overrule another panel). Under Crain, because the defendant in this case was not “serving a sentence for any counts at the time of the sentencing proceeding,” the trial court necessarily imposed the consecutive sentence terms under § 15A-1354(a). That being the case, § 15A-1354(b) applies and accordingly, I must must concur with the result reached by the majority.