Can a defendant appeal a period of CRV?

Unclear. The JRA did not include an explicit statutory provision for appealing a CRV period—either from district to superior court for a de novo violation hearing or from superior court to the appellate division for review. Under G.S. 15A-1347 and existing case law, there is no provision for appeal of probation matters other than revocation or imposition of special probation. See State v. Edgerson, 164 N.C. App. 712 (2004) (“Defendant's sentence was neither activated nor was it modified to ‘special probation.’ Defendant therefore has no right to appeal.”). Strictly speaking, CRV is neither a revocation nor special probation. And because the right to appeal in North Carolina is purely statutory, there is a sense that CRV may not be appealed.

There may, however, be an argument that imposition of a CRV period—especially a terminal CRV period—fits within the language of G.S. 15A-1347 as an activation or partial activation, although other provisions in that law reference “judgments revoking probation.” Even if that statute is not applicable, other avenues for review may be possible. For appeals from superior court to the appellate division, G.S. 15A-1442(6) (providing that a defendant may appeal other prejudicial errors of law) or G.S. 7A-27(b) (granting jurisdiction to the court of appeals to review any final judgment of a superior court) may be deemed a sufficient basis for appeal. Aside from those provisions, a defendant might also seek review through a petition for a writ of certiorari, motion for appropriate relief, petition for a writ of habeas corpus, or other extraordinary writ, depending on the nature of the alleged error.