GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

EXTRA SESSION 1994

H	1 

HOUSE BILL 157

Short Title:  Dist. Ct. Juris./Jury of Six.	(Public)
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Sponsors: Representative Joye.
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Referred to:  Courts and Justice.
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February 14, 1994

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO EXPAND THE JURISDICTION OF THE DISTRICT COURT TO INCLUDE CLASS H AND I FELONIES AND TO PROVIDE FOR SIX-PERSON JURIES IN DISTRICT COURT TRIALS OF CLASS H AND I FELONIES.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1.  G.S. 7A-272 reads as rewritten:
"(a)	Except as provided in this Article, the district court has exclusive, original jurisdiction for the trial of criminal actions, including municipal ordinance violations, for all Class H and I felonies and all misdemeanors."
Sec. 2.  G.S. 7A-271 reads as rewritten:
"§ 7A-271.  Jurisdiction of superior court.
(a)	The superior court has exclusive, original jurisdiction over all criminal actions not assigned to the district court division by this Article, except that the superior court has jurisdiction to try a Class H or I felony which is a lesser included offense of, or may be properly consolidated for trial with, a felony within the jurisdiction of the superior court, or a misdemeanor:
(1)	Which is a lesser included offense of a felony on which an indictment has been returned, or a felony information as to which an indictment has been properly waived; or
(2) 	When the charge is initiated by presentment; or
(3) 	Which may be properly consolidated for trial with a felony under G.S. 15A-926;
(4)	To which a plea of guilty or nolo contendere is tendered in lieu of a felony charge; or
(5)	When a misdemeanor conviction is appealed to the superior court for trial de novo, to accept a guilty plea to a lesser included or related charge.
	(b)	Appeals by the State or the defendant from the district court are to the superior court, except appeals from Class H or I felonies, which are to the appellate division.  The jurisdiction of the superior court over misdemeanors appealed from the district court to the superior court for trial de novo is the same as the district court had in the first instance, and when that conviction resulted from a plea arrangement between the defendant and the State pursuant to which misdemeanor charges were dismissed, reduced, or modified, to try those charges in the form and to the extent that they subsisted in the district court immediately prior to entry of the defendant and the State of the plea arrangement.
(c)	When a district court is established in a district, any superior court judge presiding over a criminal session of court shall order transferred to the district court any pending misdemeanor which does not fall within the provisions of subsection (a), and which is not pending in the superior court on appeal from a lower court, and any Class H or I felony.
(d)	The criminal jurisdiction of the superior court includes the jurisdiction to dispose of infractions only in the following circumstances:
(1) 	If the infraction is a lesser-included violation of a criminal action properly before the court, the court must submit the infraction for the jury's consideration in factually appropriate cases.
(2) 	If the infraction is a lesser-included violation of a criminal action properly before the court, or if it is a related charge, the court may accept admissions of responsibility for the infraction. A proper pleading for the criminal action is sufficient to support a finding of responsibility for the lesser-included infraction."
Sec. 3.  G.S. 7A-196(b) reads as rewritten:
"(b)	In criminal cases there shall be jury trials in the district court only for trials of Class H and I felonies. Upon appeal to superior court trial shall be de novo, with jury trial as provided by law."
Sec. 4.  G.S. 15A-1101 reads as rewritten:
"§ 15A-1101.  Applicability of superior court procedure.
Trial procedure in the district court is in accordance with the provisions of Subchapter XII, Trial in Superior Court, except for  provisions:
(1)	Relating to jury trial, except for trials of Class H and I felonies.
(2)	Requiring recordation of proceedings, except for trials of Class H and I felonies, or unless they specify their applicability to the district court.
(3)	That specify their applicability to superior court."
Sec. 5.  G.S. 15A-1201 reads as rewritten:
"§ 15A-1201.  Right to trial by jury.
In criminal cases in superior court involving Class A through G felonies, the defendant has the right to be tried by a jury of 12 whose verdict must be unanimous.  In criminal cases in the district court involving Class H and I felonies, the defendant has the right to be tried by a jury of six whose verdict must be unanimous.  In misdemeanor cases in district court the judge is the finder of fact, but the defendant has the right to appeal for trial de novo in superior court as provided in G.S. 15A-1431. In superior court all criminal trials in which the defendant enters a plea of not guilty must be tried before a jury."
Sec. 6.  This act becomes effective on the same date that Section 56 of Chapter 538 of the 1993 Session Laws provides that that act becomes effective, except if that act provides a different date that that act becomes effective for Class H and I felonies, this act becomes effective on the date that act applies to Class H and I felonies.