State v. Hairston

HUNTER, Judge.

William Roosevelt Hairston (“defendant”) appeals his conviction of being an habitual felon, on the grounds that the trial court erred by denying defendant’s motion to dismiss the habitual felon indictment for insufficiency of the evidence. Defendant’s motion was made on the grounds that the statutory creation of a prima facie case in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-7.4 unconstitutionally shifts the burden of proof to the defendant in violation of due process under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution. These amendments guarantee that an individual person may…