State v. Elam

HUSKINS, Justice.

Defendant, for the first time in the Court of Appeals, argued that G.S. 14-202.1 is unconstitutional. The constitutionality of the statute was not raised in the trial court, and the Court of Appeals therefore declined to discuss the merits of the constitutional arguments, citing State v. Cumber, 280 N.C. 127, 185 S.E.2d 141 (1971), and Bland v. City of Wilmington, 278 N.C. 657, 180 S.E.2d 813 (1971). In both those cases, this Court refused to decide constitutional questions which had not been raised or considered in the court below. This is a well established rule. State v.…