State v. Jones

CourtCourt of Appeals of North Carolina
DecidedFebruary 20, 2024
Docket23-647
StatusPublished

This text of State v. Jones (State v. Jones) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of North Carolina primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Jones, (N.C. Ct. App. 2024).

Opinion

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF NORTH CAROLINA

No. COA23-647

Filed 20 February 2024

Davidson County, No. 20CRS54440

STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA

v.

MOSE COLEMAN JONES

Appeal by defendant from judgment entered 3 November 2022 by Judge Carla

Archie in Davidson County Superior Court. Heard in the Court of Appeals 24

January 2024.

Attorney General Joshua H. Stein, by Assistant Attorney General Jodi P. Carpenter for the State.

Phoebe W. Dee for the defendant-appellant.

TYSON, Judge.

Mose Coleman Jones (“Defendant”) appeals from judgment entered upon a

jury’s verdict of guilty of felony fleeing to elude arrest. Our review discerns no error.

I. Background

Thomasville Police Officer Ryan Amos was routinely patrolling in a marked

patrol car while wearing his police uniform. Officer Amos observed Defendant driving

a motorcycle and turning onto James Avenue. The motorcycle did not display a

license plate.

Officer Amos activated his lights and siren and attempted to conduct a traffic STATE V. JONES

Opinion of the Court

stop. Instead of stopping, Defendant motioned with his hand for Officer Amos to pass

him. Officer Amos stayed behind Defendant with his lights and siren activated.

Defendant crossed the center line and attempted to speak with Officer Amos about

going around him. When Defendant slowed to approximately five to ten miles per

hour, Officer Amos rolled his window down and told Defendant to pull over.

Defendant repeatedly asserted his “right of a traveler” to Officer Amos, and claimed

he was not required to display a license plate.

When Defendant stopped at a stop sign, Officer Amos attempted to exit his

patrol car and remove Defendant from the motorcycle. Defendant drove off before

Officer Amos could stop him. Officer Jonathan Caldwell joined Officer Amos in

pursuit. Officers Caldwell and Amos attempted a rolling roadblock, but Defendant

went into the opposite lane of travel to avoid the roadblock. Defendant drove his

motorcycle through a residential property on Pineywood Road. Officer Caldwell

exited his vehicle and tried to restrain Defendant around his head and neck, but

Defendant accelerated the motorcycle and sped off, knocking Officer Caldwell to the

ground.

Sergeant Rusty Fritz joined the pursuit while Officer Amos attended to Officer

Caldwell. Sergeant Fritz observed Defendant make a right hand turn at too great a

speed, lose control, and flip the motorcycle. Following a struggle, officers handcuffed

Defendant. Defendant was charged with felony fleeing to elude a law enforcement

officer, assault on a law enforcement officer causing physical injury, and possession

-2- STATE V. JONES

with intent to sell or deliver a schedule VI-controlled substance. The State dismissed

the possession with intent to sell or deliver a schedule VI-controlled substance prior

to trial.

Defendant was convicted of felony fleeing to elude arrest and was acquitted of

assault on a law enforcement officer causing injury. Defendant was sentenced to an

active sentence of 5 to 15 months of imprisonment. Defendant appeals.

II. Jurisdiction

Defendant gave his oral notice of appeal during the sentencing hearing prior

to the trial court imposing sentence. Appellate entries were filed, and the Appellate

Defender was appointed to represent Defendant on appeal.

Rule 4 of the North Carolina Rules of Appellate Procedure provides that notice

of appeal from a criminal action may be taken by: “(1) giving oral notice of appeal at

trial, or (2) filing notice of appeal with the clerk of superior court and serving copies

thereof upon all adverse parties within fourteen days after entry of the judgment[.]”

N.C. R. App. P. 4(a). Defendant prematurely entered an oral notice of appeal before

entry of the final judgment, in violation of Rule 4 of our Rules of Appellate Procedure.

See State v. Lopez, 264 N.C. App. 496, 503, 826 S.E.2d 498, 503 (2019). Defendant

recognizes this error and has filed a petition for writ of certiorari. In the exercise of

our discretion, we allow Defendant’s petition for writ of certiorari to reach the merits

of his appeal.

III. Issues

-3- STATE V. JONES

Defendant argues the trial court erred by finding he had waived or forfeited

his right to counsel and committed plain error by allowing the State to introduce

foundationless expert testimony.

IV. Waiver of Counsel

Defendant argues the trial court erred by finding Defendant had waived his

right to counsel. This Court previously articulated two means by which a defendant

may lose his right to be represented by counsel: (1) a knowing and voluntary waiver

after being fully advised under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 15A-1242; and, (2) forfeiture of the

right by serious misconduct in State v. Blakeney, 245 N.C. App. 452, 459-61, 782

S.E.2d 88, 93-94 (2016), holding:

First, a defendant may voluntarily waive the right to be represented by counsel and instead proceed pro se. Waiver of the right to counsel and election to proceed pro se must be expressed clearly and unequivocally. Once a defendant clearly and unequivocally states that he wants to proceed pro se, the trial court must determine whether the defendant knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily waives the right to in-court representation by counsel. A trial court’s inquiry will satisfy this constitutional requirement if conducted pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 15A-1242.

....

The second circumstance under which a criminal defendant may no longer have the right to be represented by counsel occurs when a defendant engages in such serious misconduct that he forfeits his constitutional right to counsel. Although the right to counsel is guaranteed by the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution and Article I of the North Carolina Constitution, in some situations a defendant may lose this

-4- STATE V. JONES

right:

Although the loss of counsel due to defendant’s own actions is often referred to as a waiver of the right to counsel, a better term to describe this situation is forfeiture. Unlike waiver, which requires a knowing and intentional relinquishment of a known right, forfeiture results in the loss of a right regardless of the defendant’s knowledge thereof and irrespective of whether the defendant intended to relinquish the right. A defendant who is abusive toward his attorney may forfeit his right to counsel.

Id. (internal citations, ellipses, alterations, and quotation marks omitted).

This Court in Blakeney also describes a third manner, a mixture of waiver and

forfeiture, in which a defendant may lose the right to counsel:

Finally, there is a hybrid situation (waiver by conduct) that combines elements of waiver and forfeiture. Once a defendant has been warned that he will lose his attorney if he engages in dilatory tactics, any misconduct thereafter may be treated as an implied request to proceed pro se and, thus, as a waiver of the right to counsel. Recognizing the difference between forfeiture and waiver by conduct is important. First, because of the drastic nature of the sanction, forfeiture would appear to require extremely dilatory conduct. On the other hand, a waiver by conduct could be based on conduct less severe than that sufficient to warrant a forfeiture.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

United States v. Jackie McLeod
53 F.3d 322 (Eleventh Circuit, 1995)
United States v. Michael K. Leggett
162 F.3d 237 (Third Circuit, 1998)
State v. Montgomery
530 S.E.2d 66 (Court of Appeals of North Carolina, 2000)
State v. Poole
289 S.E.2d 335 (Supreme Court of North Carolina, 1982)
Powell v. Alabama
287 U.S. 45 (Supreme Court, 1932)
State v. Thomas
417 S.E.2d 473 (Supreme Court of North Carolina, 1992)
State v. McFadden
234 S.E.2d 742 (Supreme Court of North Carolina, 1977)
State v. Fulp
558 S.E.2d 156 (Supreme Court of North Carolina, 2002)
State v. Thacker
271 S.E.2d 252 (Supreme Court of North Carolina, 1980)
State v. Anderson
513 S.E.2d 296 (Supreme Court of North Carolina, 1999)
State v. Mems
190 S.E.2d 164 (Supreme Court of North Carolina, 1972)
State v. Heatwole
473 S.E.2d 310 (Supreme Court of North Carolina, 1996)
State v. Moore
661 S.E.2d 722 (Supreme Court of North Carolina, 2008)
State v. Bowditch
700 S.E.2d 1 (Supreme Court of North Carolina, 2010)
State v. Lawrence
723 S.E.2d 326 (Supreme Court of North Carolina, 2012)
State v. Watlington
716 S.E.2d 671 (Court of Appeals of North Carolina, 2011)
State v. LEYSHON
710 S.E.2d 282 (Court of Appeals of North Carolina, 2011)
State v. Blakeney
782 S.E.2d 88 (Court of Appeals of North Carolina, 2016)
State v. Schumann
810 S.E.2d 379 (Court of Appeals of North Carolina, 2018)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
State v. Jones, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-jones-ncctapp-2024.