State v. Lancaster, COA24-152, ___ N.C. App. ___ (Nov. 19, 2024)

In this Craven County case, defendant appealed the adjudication of two counts of direct criminal contempt, arguing error as only one count was warranted. The Court of Appeals found no error.

In September of 2023, defendant appeared at a pre-trial hearing, where defense counsel asked the trial court to examine defendant about proceeding pro se. Defendant told the court he was dissatisfied with his attorney but wanted to proceed with counsel. Defendant then requested a trial date in October, although defense counsel had not yet received discovery from the State. The trial court set a trial date in November, at which point defendant began arguing with the trial court about the delay, using profanity to address the court. The trial court found him in contempt, at which point defendant again used profanity, leading to a second finding of contempt.

On appeal, defendant argued that “his repeated use of profanity within a short period of time ‘could reasonably be interpreted as one episode of contempt.’” Slip Op. at 4. The Court of Appeals disagreed, noting that G.S. 5A-11 was not ambiguous about what constituted “behavior” for an episode of contempt. Instead, the court concluded “[e]ach of Defendant’s outbursts were separate episodes of behavior delineated by separate adjudications of contempt under [G.S.] 5A-11(a).” Id. at 7.