State v. Jacobs, 233 N.C. App. 701 (May. 6, 2014)

The trial court erred by allowing the defendant to proceed pro se at a probation revocation hearing without taking a waiver of counsel as required by G.S. 15A-1242. The defendant’s appointed counsel withdrew at the beginning of the revocation hearing due to a conflict of interest and the trial judge allowed the defendant to proceed pro se. However, the trial court failed to inquire as to whether the defendant understood the range of permissible punishments. The court rejected the State’s argument that the defendant understood the range of punishments because “the probation officer told the court that the State was seeking probation revocation.” The court noted that as to the underlying sentence, the defendant was told only that, “[t]here’s four, boxcar(ed), eight to ten.” The court found this insufficient, noting that it could not assume that the defendant understood this legal jargon as it related to his sentence. Finally, the court held that although the defendant signed the written waiver form, “the trial court was not abrogated of its responsibility to ensure the requirements of [G.S.] 15A-1242 were fulfilled.”