State v. Taylor, 212 N.C. App. 238

Timothy Daugherty was Lincoln County Sheriff and Barry Taylor was his chief deputy, involved in a DWI arrest at a checkpoint on Highway 16.
Dr. Daniel Senft was arrested for suspected driving while impaired after failing sobriety tests and an odor of alcohol detected by Deputy Dombrowski.
Taylor, not being a certified Intoxilyzer operator, intervened in the processing by taking custody of Senft and directing the proceedings at the sheriff's office.
Taylor conducted or influenced the presentation of the Alco-Sensor results and informed Dombrowski of Senft’s alleged reading, then released Senft without an Intoxilyzer test or magistrate proceeding.
Senft was not charged, and Taylor’s actions raised questions about probable cause and the legality of processing in relation to the arrest.
Taylor was charged by superseding indictment with felonious obstruction of justice for interfering with an arrest, leading to a misdemeanor obstruction conviction at trial and a subsequent motion for relief.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Subject matter jurisdiction	Taylor argues jurisdiction lacked for felonious common law obstruction.	Taylor contends statute supplanted common law; jurisdiction confined by §14-223.	Jurisdiction upheld; common law obstruction remains viable alongside statutory offenses.
Statute of limitations	Waived but argues felony charge tolls timing; misdemeanor lesser included not barred.	Could be time-barred for misdemeanor; submission was improper.	Statute of limitations does not bar submission of a misdemeanor lesser included offense to the jury when greater offense properly charged.
Lack of legal authority instruction	Trial court should instruct on lack of authority to require processing if applicable.	No evidence that Dombrowski lacked probable cause; no duty to instruct absent evidence.	No instruction required; evidence did not support lack-of-authority theory.
Plain error	Time-barred misdemeanor and missing authority instruction constitute plain error.	Arguments previously addressed; not plain error.	No plain error; decisions to submit and non-instruction were not reversible errors.

In re Kivett, 309 N.C. 635 (1983) (common law obstruction exists alongside statutory provisions)
State v. Ward, 354 N.C. 231 (2001) (prosecutorial charging discretion; statutory vs. common law charges)
State v. Camacho, 329 N.C. 589 (1991) (statutory control over offenses; interpretation of statutes)
State v. Millsaps, 356 N.C. 556 (2002) (lesser included offenses doctrine; jury verdict alternatives)
State v. Lawrence, 352 N.C. 1 (2000) (reversible error; necessity of instruction for lesser included offenses)
State v. McQueen, 324 N.C. 118 (1989) (evidence-supported instructions; reasonable view of the record)
State v. Underwood, 244 N.C. 68 (1956) (statute tolling and prosecutorial timing in misdemeanors)
State v. Hundley, 272 N.C. 491 (1968) (tolling of statute of limitations in misdemeanor cases upon proper charging)
State v. Goldman, 311 N.C. 338 (1984) (statutes of limitations and felonies; general limitations principles)
State v. Odom, 307 N.C. 655 (1983) (plain error standard and review of trial procedures)