Court Opinion

ID: 9577296
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 21:33:41.531076+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:20:18.902394
License: Public Domain

Justice Frye
dissenting as to sentence.
I believe that defendant is entitled to a new sentencing hearing. The majority holds that proof of a no contest plea and final *170judgment entered thereon constitutes a conviction within the meaning of the capital punishment statute. I do not agree.
Our capital punishment statute, N.C.G.S. § 15A-2000, carefully limits the aggravating circumstances that may be considered by the jury in recommending a sentence of death. As the majority recognizes, a plea of no contest does not establish the fact of guilt for any other purpose than in the case in which the plea is entered. State Bar v. Hall, 293 N.C. 539, 238 S.E. 2d 521 (1977). Therefore, when the General Assembly intends that a no contest plea be treated as a conviction, it says so clearly. An example is found under the Fair Sentencing Act, which provides: “[a] person has received a prior conviction when he . . . has entered a plea of guilty or no contest to a criminal charge.” N.C.G.S. § 15A-1340.2 (4) (1983). However there is no similar provision in the capital punishment statute. Under the North Carolina Rules of Evidence, a plea of no contest is not the same as a plea of guilty. N.C.G.S. § 8C, Rule 410 (1986). We have held that a disciplinary action may not be taken against an attorney based on his plea of no contest to a criminal offense. See State Bar v. Hall, 293 N.C. 539, 238 S.E. 2d 521. Perhaps the plea of no contest should be abolished. However, as it remains a plea that is viable, its viability should apply to the capital punishment statute unless changed by the General Assembly. In the absence of clear legislative direction, I do not believe that we should allow a plea of no contest to be the deciding factor as to whether a person receives life imprisonment or death. Accordingly, I dissent from so much of the majority opinion as upholds the death penalty in this case.