(a) Any person who has been convicted of or pled guilty to three felony offenses in any federal court or state court in the United States or combination thereof is declared to be an habitual felon and may be charged as a status offender pursuant to this Article.
(b) For the purpose of this Article, a felony offense is defined to include all of the following:
(1) An offense that is a felony under the laws of this State.
(2) An offense that is a felony under the laws of another state or sovereign that is substantially similar to an offense that is a felony in North Carolina, and to which a plea of guilty was entered, or a conviction was returned regardless of the sentence actually imposed.
(3) An offense that is a crime under the laws of another state or sovereign that does not classify any crimes as felonies if all of the following apply:
a. The offense is substantially similar to an offense that is a felony in North Carolina.
b. The offense may be punishable by imprisonment for more than a year in state prison.
c. A plea of guilty was entered or a conviction was returned regardless of the sentence actually imposed.
(4) An offense that is a felony under federal law. Provided, however, that federal offenses relating to the manufacture, possession, sale and kindred offenses involving intoxicating liquors shall not be considered felonies for the purposes of this Article.
(c) For the purposes of this Article, felonies committed before a person attains the age of 18 years shall not constitute more than one felony. The commission of a second felony shall not fall within the purview of this Article unless it is committed after the conviction of or plea of guilty to the first felony. The commission of a third felony shall not fall within the purview of this Article unless it is committed after the conviction of or plea of guilty to the second felony. Pleas of guilty to or convictions of felony offenses prior to July 6, 1967, shall not be felony offenses within the meaning of this Article. Any felony offense to which a pardon has been extended shall not for the purpose of this Article constitute a felony. The burden of proving such pardon shall rest with the defendant and the State shall not be required to disprove a pardon. (1967, c. 1241, s. 1; 1971, c. 1231, s. 1; 1979, c. 760, s. 4; 1981, c. 179, s. 10; 2011-192, s. 3(b); 2017-176, s. 2(a).)
Notes of Decisions
Cited in
188
cases (
24 in the last 5 years), 1977–2026 · leading case:
State v. Miller, 678 S.E.2d 592 (N.C. 2009).
State v. Miller, 678 S.E.2d 592 (N.C. 2009).
· cites it 12× “§ 90-108(a)(7); and attaining the status of habitual felon, as defined in N.C.G.S. § 14-7.1. At the close of the State's evidence, the trial court allowed defendant's motion to dismiss the charge of maintaining a place to keep a controlled substance, but denied defendant's…”
State v. Smith, 533 S.E.2d 518 (N.C. Ct. App. 2000).
· cites it 20× “2 (1996) for habitual misdemeanor assault will properly serve to support an ancillary indictment under the Habitual Felons Act, N.C. Gen.Stat. §§ 14-7.1 et seq. (1993), to adjudge the defendant an habitual felon.”
State v. Jones, 598 S.E.2d 125 (N.C. 2004).
· cites it 6× “Under N.C.G.S. § 14-7.1, Any person who has been convicted of or pled guilty to three felony offenses in any federal court or state court in the United States or combination thereof is declared to be an habitual felon.”
State v. Todd, 326 S.E.2d 249 (N.C. 1985).
· cites it 9× “Inasmuch as we have not specifically ruled on the constitutionality of our habitual felon statute, N.C.G.S. § 14-7.1 et seq., we will first address defendant’s due process and equal protection challenges.”
State v. McGee, 623 S.E.2d 782 (N.C. Ct. App. 2006).
· cites it 9× “Defendant also argues that the indictment was invalid for not alleging three discrete, non-overlapping felonies as required by N.C. Gen.Stat. § 14-7.1 (2003). We find that the three felonies listed in the indictment do comply with the requirements of § 14-7.”
State v. Vardiman, 552 S.E.2d 697 (N.C. Ct. App. 2001).
· cites it 8× “' Because G.S. § 14-7.1 simply defines certain persons to be habitual felons, who, as such, are subject to greater punishment for criminal offenses, our Supreme Court has held that being an habitual felon is not a crime and cannot support, standing alone, a criminal sentence.”
State v. Berryman, 624 S.E.2d 350 (N.C. 2006).
· cites it 6× “§ 90-95(a)(3); and (3) being an habitual felon under N.C.G.S. § 14-7.1. The underlying facts of these charges are described in the Court of Appeals' opinion below, State v.”
State v. Smith, 650 S.E.2d 29 (N.C. Ct. App. 2007).
· cites it 2× “Habitual Felon Defendant argues that if this Court reverses his conviction for felony assault with a deadly weapon on a government official, then the Court must also vacate the judgment and commitment under which he was sentenced as a habitual felon.”
State v. Cheek, 453 S.E.2d 862 (N.C. 1995).
· cites it 7× “The State first contends that the Court of Appeals erred in concluding that defendant’s habitual felon indictment was fatally defective since it did not specifically refer to defendant’s indictment for possession of marijuana with intent to sell and deliver. We agree with the…”
State v. Moncree, 655 S.E.2d 464 (N.C. Ct. App. 2008).
· cites it 8× “*233 Pursuant to N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-7.1 , an habitual felon is defined as, “[a]ny person who has been convicted of or pled guilty to three felony offenses in any federal court or state court in the United States or combination thereof .”
State v. Jones, 566 S.E.2d 112 (N.C. Ct. App. 2002).
· cites it 6× “]” N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-7.1 (1999). “The proceedings for determining whether a defendant is an habitual felon ‘shall be as if the issue of habitual felon were a principal charge.”
— N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-7.1(a) — 4 cases
— N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-7.1(b) — 2 cases
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the
Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and
treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.