State v. Stubbs

HUDSON, Justice.

In this case we are tasked with determining if the Court of Appeals has subject matter jurisdiction to review the State’s appeal from a trial court’s ruling on a motion for appropriate relief (“MAR”) when the defendant has been granted relief in the trial court. We hold that it does.

In 1973 defendant pleaded guilty to second-degree burglary and assault with intent to commit rape. On the second-degree burglary charge, the trial court sentenced defendant to imprisonment for “his natural life.” In 2011 defendant filed a pro se MAR in the Superior Court in Cumberland County asking…