State v. Kelliher

Summary

The Supreme Court of North Carolina held that a resentencing court retained de novo authority over convictions and sentencing issues not addressed by the appellate mandate. The court concluded that the resentencing court could run the defendant’s robbery sentences consecutively to his concurrent life-with-parole murder sentences under N.C.G.S. § 15A-1354(a), provided the sentence complied with the forty-year limitation established in Kelliher I. The court reversed the Court of Appeals and reinstated the 31 March 2023 judgments.

Holdings

1. The Kelliher I mandate required two concurrent life-with-parole sentences for the murder convictions but did not address or otherwise limit the resentencing court's authority concerning the ancillary robbery and conspiracy convictions.
2. A resentencing court has authority under N.C.G.S. § 15A-1354(a) to run sentences imposed at the same time either concurrently or consecutively, including sentences for ancillary convictions, unless a statute or the reviewing court's mandate limits that authority.
3. The defendant's constitutional objection to the resentencing was not preserved because it was not raised in the resentencing court.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the Kelliher I mandate requiring two concurrent sentences of life with parole barred the resentencing court from exercising discretion over the ancillary robbery and conspiracy convictions.
2. Whether N.C.G.S. § 15A-1354(a) authorized the resentencing court to impose the robbery sentences consecutively to the murder sentences.
3. Whether the defendant's constitutional challenge to the new sentence was preserved for appellate review.

Disposition

reversed