In State v. Carpenter, an unpublished opinion of the North Carolina Court of Appeals from August of 2026, the Court once again considers the issue of a trial court’s revocation of probation after the probation period has ended. Based on a very different set of facts, the Court reaches a vastly different conclusion than it reached in State v. Parrish, which we examined in our post “Good Cause and the Extension of an Expired Probation.”
After a plea of guilty to fleeing to elude arrest and resisting a public officer in May of 2023, Mr. Carpenter was placed on supervised probation for twelve months and given a 90 day suspended sentence. In November of 2023, Mr. Carpenter was charged with driving while impaired, driving while license revoked, fleeing and eluding arrest, and hit and run. That same month, a probation violation based on these charges was filed and the hearing on that violation was scheduled for January of 2024.
The probation violation hearing did not take place until September of 2024, almost a year after the violation report was filed and well after the term of probation had expired. Mr. Carpenter and his probation officer both testified at the violation hearing. After the hearing, the trial court revoked Mr. Carpenter’s probation and activated his suspended sentence. Mr. Carpenter gave timely notice of appeal.
On appeal, Mr. Carpenter argued that the trial court failed to make a finding of good cause shown as required under N.C.G.S. §15A-1344(f). A finding of good cause shown is required in order for a trial court to enter an order of revocation that occurs after the period of probation has ended. Mr. Carpenter further argued that the record lacks any evidence to support such a finding. Because this appeal raised a jurisdictional issue, the appellate Court conduct a de novo review. The Court pointed out that the good cause shown that is required by the relevant statute must be made by an actual finding. An inference of good cause shown from the record is not sufficient.
The State even concedes that the required finding of “good cause shown” was not made. The State went on to request that the appellate Court use its discretion to determine whether the case should be remanded or vacated without remand. There was no indication in the record why a hearing scheduled for January of 2024 did not occur until September of 2024. The record was also absent of any reasonable efforts taken by the State to conduct the probation revocation hearing prior to the expiration of Mr. Carpenter’s probation. For these reasons, the North Carolina Court of Appeals vacated the trial court’s decision without remand.
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