Opinion
No. COA11–1510.
2012-06-5
STATE of North Carolina v. Michelle K. STEMPLINGER.
Attorney General Roy Cooper, by Assistant Attorney General Carrie D. Randa, for the State. Mercedes O. Chut, for Defendant-appellant.
Appeal by Defendant from order entered 28 July 2011 by Judge Kevin M. Bridges in Mecklenburg County Superior Court. Heard in the Court of Appeals 3 April 2012. Attorney General Roy Cooper, by Assistant Attorney General Carrie D. Randa, for the State. Mercedes O. Chut, for Defendant-appellant.
HUNTER, JR., ROBERT N., Judge.
On 13 April 2009, a Mecklenburg County grand jury indicted Michelle Stemplinger (“Defendant”) for felony impaired driving. Defendant was subsequently indicted for obtaining habitual impaired driving status. On 15 October 2009, Defendant filed a motion to suppress evidence of Defendant's blood test results and statements made to law enforcement officers or medical personnel. A suppression hearing was held on 28 July 2011, and the trial court denied Defendant's motion to suppress. Defendant gave oral notice of her intent to appeal the denial of her motion to suppress. Defendant then entered a guilty plea to habitual impaired driving, specifically reserving her right to appeal the denial of her motion to suppress. However, Defendant did not give oral notice of appeal from the judgment of her conviction at the time of her guilty plea or sentencing.
N.C. Gen.Stat. § 15A–979(b) (2009) states that: “An order finally denying a motion to suppress evidence may be reviewed upon an appeal from a judgment of conviction, including a judgment entered upon a plea of guilty.” Defendant has failed to appeal from the judgment of conviction and our Court does not have jurisdiction to consider Defendant's appeal.
State v. Miller, 205 N.C.App. 724, 725, 696 S.E.2d 542, 542 (2010) (dismissing the defendant's appeal when he appealed the denial of his motion to suppress but did not give notice of appeal from the judgment of his conviction). Notice of appeal from the denial of a motion to suppress and notice of appeal from the final judgment of conviction “serve different functions, and performance of one does not substitute for completion of the other.” State v.. McBride, 120 N.C.App. 623, 626, 463 S.E.2d 403, 405 (1995).
Therefore, this Court does not have jurisdiction to hear Defendant's appeal, and it is
Dismissed. Judges McGEE and STEPHENS concur.
Report per Rule 30(e).