State v. Lovins

Defendant appeals his conviction for possession of a controlled substance. He raises two assignments of error. We write only to discuss his second assignment of error, which is that the court erred by denying him the right to make a closing argument. We agree with defendant and reverse and remand for a new trial.

The parties tried the case to the court on stipulated facts that were supplemented by a few witnesses called by each party. Immediately after the last witness testified, the court found defendant guilty. It then briefly discussed sentencing issues with defendant. Defendant asked to…