Opinion
No. 843SC375
Filed 5 February 1985
Criminal Law 18.1 — insufficiency of record to show jurisdiction in trial court — no jurisdiction of court on appeal Since jurisdiction of the Court of Appeals is derivative of that of the trial court, the jurisdiction of the trial court must affirmatively appear in the record on appeal. The record in this case failed to show the jurisdiction of the trial court where each judgment showed that defendant was convicted in superior court on misdemeanors, but made no reference to any proceedings in the district court, the court with exclusive jurisdiction in the trial of misdemeanors.
APPEAL by defendant from Allsbrook, Judge. Judgment entered 14 November 1983 in CRAVEN County Superior Court. Heard in the Court of Appeals 10 January 1985.
Attorney General Rufus L. Edmisten, by Assistant Attorney General William F. Briley, for the State.
Beaman, Kellum Stallings, P.A., by Edward Daniels Nelson, for defendant.
Following a jury trial in superior court, defendant was convicted of the offenses of indecent exposure, assault on a female, and false imprisonment. From judgment and sentences entered on the verdict, defendant has appealed.
The only criminal pleadings which appear in the record on appeal are warrants for defendant's arrest. Each judgment in the record on appeal shows that defendant was convicted in superior court on misdemeanors. The record on appeal makes no reference to or otherwise discloses any proceedings in the district court.
The district court, with certain exceptions, has exclusive jurisdiction in the trial of misdemeanors, N.C. Gen. Stat. 7A-272 (1981). None of the exceptions allowing the superior court original jurisdiction apply in this case. See N.C. Gen. Stat. 7A-271 (1981).
It is settled law that the jurisdiction of this court being derivative of that of the trial court, for an appeal to lie here, the jurisdiction of the trial court must affirmatively appear in the record on appeal. State v. Guffey, 283 N.C. 94, 194 S.E.2d 827 (1973); State v. McKoy, 44 N.C. App. 516, 261 S.E.2d 226, cert. denied, 299 N.C. 546, 265 S.E.2d 405 (1980); State v. Parks, 20 N.C. App. 207, 200 S.E.2d 837 (1973); State v. Marshall, 11 N.C. App. 200, 180 S.E.2d 464 (1971); State v. Byrd, 4 N.C. App. 672 167 S.E.2d 522 (1969).
This record not showing the jurisdiction of the trial court, we have no jurisdiction to consider this appeal.
Dismissed.
Judges ARNOLD and PARKER concur.