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9 N.C. App. 253

State v. Johnson

Court of Appeals of North Carolina

Decided August 5, 1970

Court of Appeals of North Carolina · decided 1970-08-05

Cited by 3 later decisions — most recently February 2014

3 state decisions

Key passage — most relied on by later courts

“In Johnson , the indictment alleged that the defendant committed the crime of breaking and entering “a certain storehouse, shop, warehouse, dwelling house and building occupied by one Lloyd R. Montgomery, 648 Swannanoa River Road, Asheville, N.C.” The evidence at trial tended to show that the defendant broke into “438 Swannanoa River Road in Asheville which was occupied by one Elvira L. Montgomery, who was engaged in business under the name of ‘Cat and Fiddle Restaurant.’ ” The trial court granted the defendant’s motion to dismiss due to a fatal variance between the indictment and the evidence presented at trial. The State retried [the] defendant for the offense of breaking and entering, but upon an indictment that corresponded to the evidence. The defendant then appealed and asserted that his right to be free from double jeopardy had been violated. Our Supreme Court held that “a judgment of dismissal for whatever reason entered after a trial on the first indictment would not sustain a plea of former jeopardy when [the] defendant was brought to trial on the charge contained in the second indictment.””

quoted by 1 later decision, including State v. Chamberlain

Relies on State v. Hicks · State v. Stinson

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1970-08-05

View the full empirical analysis of this case →

Parker, J.

¶1Appellant assigns as error the refusal of the trial court to sustain his plea of former jeopardy. There is no merit to this assignment of error. Evidence for the State, both at the November 1969 trial and at the subsequent January 1970 trial from which this appeal was taken, was to the effect that defendant had broken and entered premises at 438 Swannanoa River Road in Asheville which was occupied by one Elvira L. Montgomery, *255who was engaged in business under the name of “Cat and Fiddle Restaurant.” The indictment under which defendant had been tried at the November 1969 Session of court charged a different offense, having charged the defendant with breaking and entering premises located at 648 Swannanoa River Road, Asheville, N. C., occupied by one Lloyd R. Montgomery. The prior prosecution, having been for a different offense, judgment of dismissal therein would not sustain a plea of former jeopardy when defendant was brought to trial upon a new bill of indictment charging him with felonious breaking and entering of premises at a different location. State v. Stinson, 263 N.C. 283, 139 S.E. 2d 558; State v. Hicks, 233 N.C. 511, 64 S.E. 2d 871. The fact that the trial judge at the first trial granted nonsuit by reason of a fatal variance between the allegations in the indictment and the proof as to “ownership of the property involved,” rather than for fatal variance between the allegations in the indictment and the proof as to the location of the premises which had been broken and entered, is not material. In any event the two indictments charged different offenses, and a judgment of dismissal for whatever reason entered after a trial on the first indictment would not sustain a plea of former jeopardy when defendant was brought to trial on the charge contained in the second indictment.

¶2We have examined appellant’s remaining assignments of error, most of which relate to the judge’s charge to the jury, and find them to be without merit.

¶3No error.

Campbell and Vaughn, JJ., concur.
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