State v. Borders

I concur in the majority opinion, except with regard to its holding that it was not error for the trial court to find the nonstatutory aggravating factor that this offense was part of a course of conduct involving violence against other persons. I therefore respectfully dissent on this issue.

“The State has the burden of proving the existence of a nonstatu-tory aggravating factor by a preponderance of the evidence.” State v. Hargrove, 104 N.C. App. 194, 200, 408 S.E.2d 757, 761 (1991). In the instant case, defendant’s sentence was based in part upon the non-statutory aggravating factor that…