State v. Jones, 253 N.C. App. 789

Defendant Angelo Lindovis Jones pleaded guilty (30 Mar 2016) to attempted armed robbery under a plea agreement that dismissed murder and burglary charges; sentencing was not agreed and was continued.
Sentencing occurred 23 Aug 2016; defense counsel told the court Jones wished to address the court and the court acknowledged that request.
Defense counsel presented mitigation and a detective testified about Jones’s cooperation; during or after these presentations the trial judge expressed a preformed view and impatience.
The trial court then announced it was "ready to give the judgment" and imposed a 128–163 month active sentence without allowing Jones to speak personally.
Jones filed a pro se note asserting denial of the right to address the court and sought appellate review by certiorari; appellate counsel later petitioned for a writ of certiorari, which this Court granted.

Issue	State's Argument	Jones's Argument	Held
Whether this Court has jurisdiction to grant certiorari to review a sentencing following a guilty plea when Rule 21’s enumerated bases don’t apply	Rule 21 appears to limit certiorari to specific circumstances; therefore certiorari is not appropriate here	Statute (N.C. Gen. Stat. § 15A‑1444(e)) expressly permits petition for certiorari; Court of Appeals has authority under § 7A‑32(c) and Supreme Court precedent	Court has jurisdiction; certiorari granted (following Stubbs rationale)
Whether Jones was denied his statutory/common‑law right to allocute at sentencing (N.C. Gen. Stat. § 15A‑1334(b))	The record includes defense counsel’s allocution and counsel spoke on Jones’s behalf; court need not personally address defendant if counsel speaks	Jones (through counsel) expressly requested to speak and the court acknowledged that request but then cut off the hearing and imposed sentence without permitting Jones to speak	Trial court violated Jones’s right to be heard; sentence vacated and case remanded for new sentencing hearing

State v. Stubbs, 770 S.E.2d 74 (N.C. 2015) (Rules of Appellate Procedure cannot strip statutory certiorari jurisdiction granted by the General Assembly)
State v. Thomsen, 789 S.E.2d 639 (N.C. Ct. App. 2016) (interpreting Stubbs; statutory certiorari petitions allowed)
State v. McRae, 320 S.E.2d 914 (N.C. Ct. App. 1984) (court need not personally invite defendant to speak if counsel speaks, but judge’s actions can foreclose a meaningful hearing)
State v. Miller, 528 S.E.2d 626 (N.C. Ct. App. 2000) (allocution at sentencing is a defendant’s right; failure to permit allocution requires remand)
State v. Griffin, 425 S.E.2d 722 (N.C. Ct. App. 1993) (judge’s remarks that chill defendant’s right to speak can constitute denial of allocution)
Green v. United States, 365 U.S. 301 (U.S. 1961) (allocution is significant; defendant may speak for himself in ways counsel cannot)