State v. Pennell

Judge GEER

concurs in part and concurs in the result only in part by separate opinion

I concurred in State v. Hunnicutt,_N.C. App. _, 740 S.E.2d 906 (2013), discussed by the majority opinion. It is, of course, well established that “[wjhere a panel of the Court of Appeals has decided the same issue, albeit in a different case, a subsequent panel of the same court is bound by that precedent, unless it has been overturned by a higher court.” In re Civil Penalty, 324 N.C. 373, 384, 379 S.E.2d 30, 37 (1989). Nevertheless, if an opinion of a panel is clearly inconsistent with earlier opinions of…