State v. Stubbs, 368 N.C. 40

In 1973 Stubbs pleaded guilty to second-degree burglary and assault with intent to commit rape; the burglary sentence was life imprisonment.
In 2011 Stubbs filed a pro se motion for appropriate relief (MAR) arguing his life sentence is cruel and unusual under evolving sentencing law; the superior court granted relief, vacated the 1973 judgment, resentenced him to 30 years, and ordered immediate release with credit for time served.
The State sought and the Court of Appeals allowed certiorari to review the trial court’s MAR order.
A divided Court of Appeals panel reversed the trial court and remanded for reinstatement of the 1973 judgment; opinions split on (1) whether a later panel is bound by an earlier certiorari petition panel’s jurisdictional determination and (2) whether the Court of Appeals has subject-matter jurisdiction to hear a State appeal when the defendant prevailed below.
The Supreme Court reviewed whether the Court of Appeals has jurisdiction to hear the State’s certiorari appeal of an MAR granted to a defendant and whether appellate rules or prior panel determinations limit that jurisdiction.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument (State)	Defendant's Argument (Stubbs)	Held
Whether the Court of Appeals has jurisdiction to hear the State’s certiorari appeal of a trial court order granting an MAR to the defendant	The General Assembly authorized review of MAR rulings by certiorari under N.C.G.S. § 15A-1422(c)(3); Rule 21 cannot strip statutorily conferred jurisdiction	Rule 21’s language contemplates certiorari to review orders denying MARs and, read with Rule 1, limits the State’s ability to appeal when defendant prevails	The Court held the Court of Appeals does have jurisdiction; statutory grant of jurisdiction controls and the Rules of Appellate Procedure cannot remove that jurisdiction
Whether a subsequent Court of Appeals panel may revisit a prior petition panel’s jurisdictional determination	Earlier panel decisions are the law of the case and ordinarily bind later panels under N.C.N.B. v. Virginia Carolina Builders	Each panel can and should address subject-matter jurisdiction anew; prior petition-panel allowance of certiorari is not dispositive for a merits panel	The Court noted both Court of Appeals panels had subject-matter jurisdiction in this case and affirmed the Court of Appeals decision; it emphasized statutory grant of jurisdiction and that jurisdiction existed here

N.C.N.B. v. Virginia Carolina Builders, 307 N.C. 563 (1983) (articulates law-of-the-case principle that one Court of Appeals panel’s decision ordinarily binds subsequent panels)
State v. Stubbs, 754 S.E.2d 174 (N.C. Ct. App. 2014) (Court of Appeals panel decisions split on whether the court may review a State certiorari appeal of an MAR granted to a defendant)