State v. Hanton

I concur with the majority’s determination of the second and third issues, but respectfully dissent as to the first issue because I disagree with the majority’s overly broad conclusion that “whether an out-of-state offense is substantially similar to a North Carolina offense is a question of law that must be determined by the trial court, not a jury.” (emphasis added).

In the present case, it appears from the record that the trial court solely conducted a comparison of the elements of the two statutes and did not appear to undertake any type of factual analysis of the circumstances underlying…