State v. Field

PHILLIPS, Judge.

The only question presented for our determination is the constitutionality of G.S. 20-179(c), under which defendant was sentenced for driving while impaired. That statute creates three “grossly aggravating factors,” one of which is that the impaired driver caused serious injury to another person; and it requires the sentencing judge upon finding one such factor to impose an active jail term of not less than seven days under subsection (h) of G.S. 20-179. It is fundamental, of course, that one charged with crime in this state is entitled as a matter of right, under both the…