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North Carolina v. Tucker12/4/1984
sdictional issues of this case, and it is only the issues raised by this ruling that are the "subject matter of this appeal." By the express terms of the North Carolina Constitution, the appellate jurisdiction of this Court is "to review upon appeal any decision of the courts below." N.C. Const., art. IV, § 12(1). We have interpreted this provision to mean that this Court's function "is to review alleged errors and rulings of the trial court, and unless and until it is shown that the trial court ruled on a particular question, it is not given to us to make specific rulings thereon." Greene v. Spivey, 236 N.C. 435, 442, 73 S.E.2d 488, 493 (1952); accord, Smith v. State, 289 N.C. 303, 222 S.E.2d 412 (1976).
Aside from the obvious procedural and jurisdictional bars to our reaching the substantive claims presented by the complaint, the vast majority of the questions of law upon which the State seeks declaratory relief have been addressed and decided in five other "driving while impaired" cases heard in this Court on 9 October 1984 and filed contemporaneously with this case. See State v. Smith, 312 N.C. 361, 323 S.E.2d 316 (1984); State v. Howren, 312 N.C. 454, 323 S.E.2d 335 (1984); State v. Rose, 312 N.C. 441, 323 S.E.2d 339 (1984); State v. Coker, 312 N.C. 432, 323 S.E.2d 343 (1984); State v. Shuping, 312 N.C. 421, 323 S.E.2d 350 (1984).
The only issues alleged in the complaint and not addressed in the above mentioned cases concern (1) the constitutionality of N.C.G.S. § 15A-534.2 (pretrial detention of impaired drivers); N.C.G.S. § 20-16.5 (pretrial civil license revocation); and N.C.G.S. § 20-179 (sentencing; enhancement of punishment by prior DUI convictions); and (2) whether N.C.G.S. § 20-138.1(a) makes the conduct described as impaired driving a criminal offense. These issues
arise in the cases of individual defendants Johnson, Hartwig, Tew, Henry, Howard, Crow and Massey. The record on appeal concerning these cases consists of no more than the allegations contained in the State's complaint. Of the individual defendants who are involved in these cases, some have filed only motions to dismiss and no responsive pleadings. Others have filed both, and have controverted certain factual allegations of the State in their answers. Thus, the record on appeal is totally inadequate for the purposes of reaching a decision on the merits of these claims, even were we so disposed.
Conceivably, this Court could render an opinion on the abstract question of whether the challenged provisions of the Safe Roads Act are constitutional as drawn. However, it would be impossible, on the record before us, to make the determination of whether those provisions were constitutional as applied to the individual defendants upon whose challenges we are asked to rule. As we observed in Greensboro v. Wall, 247 N.C. at 520, 101 S.E.2d at 416:
onfusion is caused "by speaking of an act as constitutional in a general sense. . . ." The validity or invalidity of a statute, in whole or in part, is to be determined in respect to its adverse impact upon personal or property rights in a specific factual situation.
What we have stated concerning the Declaratory Judgment Act has bearing upon our supervisory jurisdiction as well
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 North Carolina DUI Attorneys
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