Can technical violations be framed as a new criminal offense to allow for revocation?

In some circumstances that may be permissible. For example, a probationer with a positive drug screen might be said to have committed the criminal offense of possession of a controlled substance, or a probationer who fails to appear for a violation hearing might be said to have committed the crime of failure to appear under G.S. 15A-543. That said, any independent finding of a new criminal offense must be a finding of behavior that clearly constitutes a crime. For instance, a positive drug screen may not, without more, constitute evidence sufficient to prove that a defendant committed the crime of knowingly and intentionally possessing a controlled substance. State v. Harris, 361 N.C. 400 (2007).