An unpublished opinion of the North Carolina Court of Appeals does not constitute
controlling legal authority. Citation is disfavored, but may be permitted in accordance
with the provisions of Rule 30(e)(3) of the North Carolina Rules of Appellate Procedure.
NO. COA13-1367
NORTH CAROLINA COURT OF APPEALS
Filed: 15 July 2014
STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA
v. Sampson County
No. 10 CRS 50722
JONATHAN CONLANGES BOYKIN
Appeal by defendant from judgment entered 23 July 2013 by
Judge Arnold Jones in Sampson County Superior Court. Heard in
the Court of Appeals 17 March 2014.
Attorney General Roy Cooper, by Assistant Attorney General
Erin O. Scott, for the State.
James F. Hedgpeth, Jr., for defendant-appellant.
CALABRIA, Judge.
Jonathan Conlanges Boykin (“defendant”) appeals from a
judgment entered upon jury verdicts finding him guilty of felony
speeding to elude arrest; resisting, delaying and obstructing a
public officer (“RDO”); driving while license revoked (“DWLR”);
possession of an open container of alcohol in the passenger area
of a vehicle; careless and reckless driving; failure to heed
light or siren; and improper passing and speeding in excess of
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fifty-five miles per hour outside corporate limits. We find no
error.
I. Background
Around midnight on 12 April 2010, Master Deputy Patrick
Dunn (“Master Deputy Dunn”) of the Sampson County Sheriff’s
Office was on patrol in Roseboro, North Carolina when he
observed a Jeep Cherokee (“the vehicle”) drive into the parking
lot of a Scotchman Gas Station on Highway 24. Defendant exited
the driver’s side, pumped gas, and entered the convenience store
while a passenger remained in the vehicle.
Master Deputy Dunn recognized defendant because the area
was well lit and he was familiar with defendant from previous
encounters. He checked defendant’s driver’s license to see if
it was suspended. According to the Department of Motor Vehicles
(“DMV”), the vehicle was registered to defendant’s mother at the
same residential address listed on defendant’s suspended
license.
After defendant re-entered the driver’s side of the
vehicle, he proceeded north on Highway 242. Master Deputy Dunn
drove behind the vehicle, then activated his lights and siren to
initiate a traffic stop. Defendant accelerated the vehicle,
reaching speeds over 105 miles per hour. Defendant pulled over
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on two separate occasions. When Master Deputy Dunn asked
defendant to exit the vehicle, defendant continued to flee.
Defendant eventually stopped the vehicle, fled on foot, and
eluded Master Deputy Dunn by climbing over a barbed wire fence.
Defendant was subsequently arrested and charged with felony
speeding to elude arrest and RDO. At trial, the court admitted
defendant’s driving record into evidence and published it to the
jury without objection. The jury returned a verdict finding
defendant guilty of all offenses. At sentencing, the State
provided both the court and defendant with copies of defendant’s
prior record level worksheet, records maintained by the Division
of Criminal Information (“DCI”), and defendant’s local record.
Defendant did not object to the admission of these documents.
The trial court sentenced defendant to a minimum of
thirteen months and a maximum of sixteen months in the custody
of the North Carolina Division of Adult Correction for the
felony speeding to elude arrest offense. The trial court
arrested judgment for all other offenses. Defendant appeals.
II. Defendant’s Driving Record
Defendant argues that the trial court erred in admitting
his partially redacted driving record into evidence because
defendant did not testify and evidence of his prior convictions
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was not admissible under either Rule 404(b) or Rule 609 of the
North Carolina Rules of Evidence. However, since defendant
failed to object to the admission and publication of his driving
record, he did not properly preserve this issue for appeal.
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 8C-1, Rule 404(b) (2013) permits evidence
of another offense to be admitted as long as it is relevant to
any fact or issue other than the character of the accused. State
v. Scott, 343 N.C. 313, 330, 471 S.E.2d 605, 615 (1996).
Evidentiary errors that are not objected to at trial are
reviewed for plain error. Id. at 332, 471 S.E.2d at 616. If a
defendant does not object at trial or allege plain error, then
he has failed to properly preserve the issue for appeal. Id.
In the instant case, although defendant argued in his brief
that the standard of review for this issue is de novo, he failed
to allege plain error. Therefore, defendant has failed to
properly preserve this issue for appeal. Id.
III. Evidence of Prior Convictions
Defendant also argues that the trial court erred in
sentencing him as a Prior Record Level V offender without first
requiring the State to carry its burden of proof as to his
criminal history. We disagree.
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At a sentencing hearing, the State must prove a felony
offender’s prior convictions by a preponderance of the evidence.
State v. McIlwaine, 169 N.C. App. 397, 400, 610 S.E.2d 399, 401
(2005). N.C. Gen. Stat. § 15A-1340.14(f) (2013) provides that a
prior conviction shall be proved either by stipulation of the
parties; an original copy of the court record for the prior
conviction; a copy of records maintained by DCI, the DMV, or the
Administrative Office of the Courts; or any other method the
court finds reliable. “This court reviews the calculation of a
prior record level de novo.” State v. Boyd, 207 N.C. App. 632,
642, 701 S.E.2d 255, 261 (2010) (citation omitted).
Defendant cites State v. McIlwaine to support his
contention that the State presented insufficient proof of his
prior record. In McIlwaine, the State presented no evidence to
support the defendant’s prior record level worksheet, and the
defendant failed to object. 169 N.C. App. at 402-03, 610 S.E.2d
at 403. The trial court sentenced the defendant based solely on
the prior record level worksheet that was presented by the
State. Id. This Court held that the defendant was entitled to a
new sentencing hearing because the defendant’s failure to object
did not constitute a stipulation to his prior convictions, and
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the State provided no other proof of the defendant’s prior
convictions. Id.
In the instant case, defendant is correct that his own
failure to object does not constitute a stipulation to the prior
record level worksheet. However, the State presented copies of
local records and records maintained by DCI as well as
defendant’s prior record level worksheet. Because the State
presented additional evidence of defendant’s prior convictions
pursuant to N.C. Gen. Stat. § 15A-1340.14(f), the State carried
its burden of proof as to defendant’s criminal history.
Therefore, the trial court properly sentenced defendant as a
Prior Record Level V offender.
IV. Conclusion
Defendant failed to properly preserve his ability to appeal
the admission of his driving record at trial and failed to
allege plain error. In addition, the State proved defendant’s
prior record by a preponderance of the evidence by presenting
both DCI and local records to support defendant’s prior record
level worksheet. Therefore, the defendant was properly
sentenced. We find no error.
No error.
Chief Judge MARTIN and Judge MCGEE concur.
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Report per Rule 30(e).
State v. Boykin
Combined Opinion