State v. Boderick, ___ N.C. App. ___, 812 S.E.2d 889 (Mar. 20, 2018)

Because the constitutional amendment permitting waiver of a jury trial only applies to defendants arraigned on or after 1 December 2014, a bench trial was improperly allowed in this case where the defendant was arraigned in February 2014. The session law authorizing the ballot measure regarding waiver of a jury trial provided that if the constitutional amendment is approved by the voters it becomes effective 1 December 2014 and applies to criminal cases arraigned in Superior Court on or after that date. After the ballot measure was approved, the constitutional amendment was codified at G.S. 15A-1201(b). That statute was subsequently amended to provide procedures for a defendant’s waiver of the right to a jury trial, by a statute that became effective on 1 October 2015. The court rejected the State’s argument that because of the subsequent statutory amendment, the constitutional amendment allowing for waiver of a jury trial applies to any defendant seeking to waive his right to a jury trial after 1 October 2015. The amendment to the statute does not change the effective date of the constitutional amendment itself. The court concluded: “Accordingly, a trial court may consent to a criminal defendant’s waiver of his right to a jury trial only if the defendant was arraigned on or after 1 December 2014.” The parties may not stipulate around this requirement. Here, because the defendant was arraigned in February 2014, he could not waive his right to a trial by jury. The court found that automatic reversal was required.