State v. Robinson

Summary

The Supreme Court of North Carolina holds that the Governor’s commutation of William Eugene Robinson’s death sentence to life imprisonment without parole foreclosed his direct appeal of right to the Supreme Court under N.C.G.S. §§ 7A-27(a)(1) and 15A-2000(d). The Court dissolves the stay and remands the case to the Court of Appeals for appellate review under N.C.G.S. § 7A-27(b)(1); a dissent argues that the plain statutory text preserves Supreme Court jurisdiction.

Holdings

1. When the Governor commutes a defendant's death sentence to life imprisonment without parole, the defendant no longer has an appeal of right in the Supreme Court under N.C.G.S. § 7A-27(a)(1) or the automatic-review provisions of N.C.G.S. § 15A-2000(d).
2. After commutation of the death sentence, jurisdiction over Robinson's appeal lies in the Court of Appeals under N.C.G.S. § 7A-27(b)(1).

Questions Presented

1. Whether a gubernatorial commutation of a death sentence to life imprisonment without parole eliminates a defendant's right to a direct appeal in the Supreme Court under N.C.G.S. § 7A-27(a)(1).
2. Whether jurisdiction over the appeal instead lies in the Court of Appeals under N.C.G.S. § 7A-27(b)(1).

Disposition

remanded