Smith's Criminal Case Compendium
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State v. Mills, ___ N.C. App. ___, ___ S.E.2d ___ (Feb. 18, 2020)
The Court of Appeals upheld the trial judge’s revocation of the defendant’s probation for absconding on the following facts: The defendant was released from custody on December 21, 2018, following a plea of guilty to assault with a deadly weapon on a government official. He failed to report to his probation officer by January 11, 2019, when the probation violation report was filed. The probation officer tried to contact the defendant at his sister’s house, which the defendant had given to the probation officer as his address. When the probation officer called the listed phone number, his sister said she had not had contact with him in some time and didn’t know he was out of custody; and when the officer went to the address provided by the defendant, the homeowner said he didn’t know the defendant. On this evidence, the Court concluded that the trial judge did not abuse his discretion in finding that the defendant had absconded. The Court rejected the defendant’s argument that the trial judge may have revoked his probation based on other alleged violations that could not be grounds for revocation, such as failing to attend community support meetings. The Court found that the trial judge specifically revoked the defendant’s probation for absconding.