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North Carolina v. Craig Raymond Knoll6/30/1988
Defendant in each of these consolidated cases was charged with driving while impaired (DWI) in violation of N.C.G.S. § 20-138.1. Each defendant thereafter made a pretrial motion in Wake County District Court to dismiss the charge against him for violation of certain statutory and constitutional rights. The presiding judge in each case made findings of fact and conclusions of law and granted the motion to dismiss. The State appealed in all three cases to the Superior Court, Wake County, and because of the common questions of law involved, the State's appeals were consolidated for hearing.
At a hearing in Wake County Superior Court, Judge Robert L. Farmer adopted the findings and conclusions of the district court judges, made additional findings and conclusions, and affirmed the dismissals entered by the judges in the district court division. The State appealed, and the Court of Appeals reversed the judgments of the superior court and remanded all three cases for trial. We granted discretionary review in all three cases on 5 May 1987, and upon motion of the State (with consent of defendants), the cases were consolidated for briefing and oral argument. Concluding, as we do, that the Court of Appeals erred in reversing the judgments entered by the trial judge in each of the three cases, we reverse.
Before reviewing the three cases individually, we note, by way of background, the general obligations of the magistrate in such cases. Upon a defendant's arrest for DWI, the magistrate is obligated to inform him of the charges against him, of his right to communicate with counsel and friends, and of the general circumstances under which he may secure his release. N.C.G.S. § 15A-511(b) (1983). A defendant may be confined or otherwise
secured if he is so unruly as to disrupt and impede the proceedings, becomes unconscious, is grossly intoxicated, or is otherwise unable to understand the procedural rights afforded by the initial appearance before the magistrate. N.C.G.S. § 15A-511(a)(3) (1983).
The magistrate must also determine conditions for pretrial release of the defendant, N.C.G.S. § 15A-533(b) (1983), by adhering to one of the following courses: (1) release the defendant on his written promise to appear; (2) release the defendant upon his execution of an unsecured appearance bond; (3) place the defendant in the custody of a designated person or organization; or (4) require the execution of an appearance bond in a specified amount secured by a cash deposit of the full amount of the bond, by a mortgage, or by at least one solvent surety, N.C.G.S. § 15A-534(a) (1983). In determining the particular pretrial condition to impose, the magistrate must take into account the nature and circumstances of the offense charged, the weight of the evidence against the defendant, whether the defendant is intoxicated to such a degree that he would be endangered by being released without supervision, and any other evidence relevant to the issue of pretrial release. N.C.G.S. § 15A-534(c) (1983). We now proceed to review the three cases seriatim.
Knoll Case
David Knoll was stopped by Officer T. C. Dunn of the Raleigh Police Department on South Saunders Street in Raleigh at 1:15 p.m. on 17 April 1984 and charged with driving while impaired. He was taken to the Wake County Courthouse, where he was administered an intoxilyzer test at 2:31 p.m. The results of the analysis showed defendant to have an alcohol concentration of 0.30. He was taken before a magistrate who set bond at $300.00. Between 4:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m., Knoll asked several ti
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