Opinion
No. COA12–249.
2012-08-7
STATE of North Carolina v. William Preston PHILLIPS.
Attorney General Roy Cooper, by Assistant Attorney General Peter A. Regulski, for the State. W. Michael Spivey for defendant-appellant.
Appeal by defendant from order entered 30 September 2011 by Judge R. Allen Baddour, Jr., in Chatham County Superior Court. Heard in the Court of Appeals 30 July 2012. Attorney General Roy Cooper, by Assistant Attorney General Peter A. Regulski, for the State. W. Michael Spivey for defendant-appellant.
HUNTER, ROBERT C., Judge.
Defendant pled guilty to assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury and first degree kidnapping, and entered an Alford plea for a second degree sexual offense. The trial court entered judgments on 3 August 2009 sentencing defendant to consecutive prison terms of 46–65 months and 133–169 months.
On or about 18 August 2010, defendant filed motions to locate and preserve evidence and for DNA testing on evidence related to the charges. The trial court conducted a hearing on the motions on 30 September 2011. Defendant's counsel did not adopt defendant's motion for DNA testing. When defendant was asked by the trial court if he had any argument to make in support of his motion, he stated that he did not. The trial court denied the motion, and defendant gave notice of appeal in open court.
Counsel for defendant filed a brief on defendant's behalf in which he concedes that he cannot “present an issue with sufficient merit to support a meaningful argument for relief” unless the Court departs from the reasoning of two unpublished opinions of this Court. Counsel for defendant states that he “has reviewed the record and applicable law and is unable to identify any other issue with sufficient merit to support a meaningful argument for relief on appeal.” Pursuant to Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738, 18 L.Ed.2d 493 (1967) and State v. Kinch, 314 N.C. 99, 331 S.E.2d 665 (1985), counsel requests this Court to conduct its own independent review of the record for possible error. Counsel has attached a letter he wrote to defendant advising him of his inability to identify any issue to support meaningful relief on appeal. Counsel also informed defendant that he had the right to file his own written arguments directly with this Court. Counsel provided defendant with copies of the transcript and record on appeal to assist him.
Defendant has not filed his own written arguments. After reviewing the record on appeal, we are unable to find a possible issue to support meaningful relief on appeal. Accordingly, we find no error.
No error. Judges ELMORE and McCULLOUGH concur.
Report per Rule 30(e).