BEASLEY

Appeal by Defendant from judgment entered 19 January 2010 by Judge William Z. Wood, Jr. in Forsyth County Superior Court. Heard in the Court of Appeals 2 April 2012. Attorney General Roy Cooper by Assistant Attorney General Elizabeth F. Parsons, for the State of North Carolina. Parish & Cooke, by James R. Parish, for Cedric Gerrard Parker.
BEASLEY, Judge.

Cedric Gerrard Parker (Defendant) appeals his conviction for robbery with a dangerous weapon. For the following reasons, we dismiss.

The pertinent facts of the case are as follows:

On 15 June 2009, [Defendant] was indicted for robbery with a dangerous weapon and on 20 July 2009 for possession of a firearm by a felon. Defendant was also indicted on one count of first-degree kidnapping on 14 September 2009. The charges of possession of a firearm by a felon and robbery with a dangerous weapon were tried together before a jury at the 21 September 2009 Criminal Session of Superior Court, Forsyth County. On 23 September 2009, a jury convicted defendant of robbery with a firearm but acquitted defendant as to the possession of a firearm by a felon charge. On 2 October 2009, the trial court entered an order setting aside the jury verdict as being inconsistent and granting defendant a new trial. That order was stayed pending the State's petition for a writ of certiorari to this Court to review the 2 October 2009 order. This Court granted the State's request for certiorari and, by order without an opinion, overturned the trial court's 2 October 2009 order setting aside the verdict, vacated the trial court's order for a new trial, and remanded the case “for entry of judgment consistent with the verdict returned by the jury.” On remand, defendant pled guilty to second-degree kidnapping, on the condition that the second-degree kidnapping charge be consolidated with the robbery with a dangerous weapon conviction. On the consolidated conviction of robbery with a dangerous weapon and second-degree kidnapping, the trial court sentenced defendant to a term of 105 to 135 months imprisonment.
State v. Parker, ––– N.C.App. ––––, ––––, 713 S.E.2d 770, 771 (2011) (Parker I). After entry of the judgment, Defendant appealed. In Parker I, filed 2 August 2011, we dismissed Defendant's appeal based on his failure to satisfy the jurisdictional requirement of providing proper notice of appeal. We held that even though Defendant claimed to have given oral notice of appeal in open court, Defendant's failure to include the transcript in the record left us unable to determine whether notice of appeal was proper.

On 11 August 2011, Defendant filed a petition for writ of certiorari. On 26 August 2011, we granted the writ of certiorari with the following instructions,

The Superior Court, Forsyth County, shall determine whether petitioner is entitled: (1) to the appointment of counsel; (2) to proceed as an indigent; (3) to a copy of the transcript at the expense of the State; and (4) to be released on bond pending appeal. This appeal shall be deemed taken as of the date of the trial court's determination of whether defendant is entitled to appointment of counsel. The record on appeal shall thereafter be settled in accordance with N.C.R.App. P. 11 and shall be filed in this Court in accordance with N.C.R.App. P. 12. (emphasis added).
Our review of the record does not show compliance with our order granting the writ of certiorari. There is no evidence that the trial court made the required findings before the record on appeal was settled. Because of Defendant's failure to comply with this order, this Court is faced with the same dilemma presented in Parker I. Again, Defendant's failure to take the necessary procedural steps renders us unable to determine the date the appeal was taken. Here, the appeal was supposed to be deemed taken after the trial court's determination, but Defendant did not include any evidence in the record to demonstrate that there was any action taken by the Superior Court of Forsyth County before the record on appeal was settled.

Moreover, we admonish defense counsel for failure to comply with the writ of certiorari. We remind counsel that compliance with our order is not discretionary. “The power to compel obedience to its mandate is inherent in the appellate court itself. It exists quite independently of statute, and has been exercised since early times.... [Defense counsel] is without power to do anything except to obey the mandate[.]” Collins v. Simms, 257 N.C. 1, 12, 125 S.E.2d 298, 306 (1962) (citation omitted). Defense counsel's procedural errors in Parker I and in this case repeatedly prevented our review of Defendant's contentions. Accordingly, we dismiss this appeal.

Dismissed. Judges CALABRIA and STEELMAN concur.

Report per Rule 30(e).