There’s a New King in Town – Finding DWI Aggravating Factors

The U.S. Supreme Court held in Blakely v. Washington, 542 U.S. 296 (2004) that any contested fact that increases the defendant’s sentence beyond the statutory maximum must be submitted to the jury and found beyond a reasonable doubt. Shortly thereafter,  the General Assembly amended G.S. 20-179 to require judges in superior court cases to submit contested aggravating factors during impaired driving sentencing to the jury. Practically, this means that after a person is found guilty of impaired driving, if they are contesting properly alleged aggravating factors, there must be a sentencing hearing before the jury to determine any aggravating factors beyond a reasonable doubt. The North Carolina Supreme Court considered in State v. King, ___ N.C. ___, 906 S.E.2d 808 (2024) what happens if a judge finds contested aggravating factors without submitting them to the jury.

Background. In impaired driving cases, sentencing is tiered and is determined by finding statutorily defined grossly aggravating, aggravating, and mitigating factors. There are 6 levels of impaired driving sentences – A1, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. Levels A1, 1, and 2 may only be imposed if there are grossly aggravating factors present. If there are no grossly aggravating factors, the judge may only sentence a person at Level 3, 4, or 5. If there are both aggravating and mitigating factors present, and the judge finds they substantially counterbalance each other (or if there are neither any aggravators nor mitigators) the judge must impose level 4 punishment. If there are only aggravating factors present, or if the aggravators substantially outweigh any mitigators, the judge must impose Level 3 punishment. If there are only mitigating factors present, or if the mitigators substantially outweigh any aggravators, the judge must impose Level 5 punishment. Because the finding of an aggravating factor pursuant to G.S. 20-179 may increase the statutory maximum sentence, any contested aggravating factor must be found by the jury beyond a reasonable doubt to be consistent with Blakely.