In the 1990’s, North Carolina, like most states, enacted common offender (or three strikes or repeat offender) laws. North Carolina has a few different statutes. The most important is the habitual character. Laws are usually inadequate as instruments of crime prevention.
But they are very hard. So if you have two offenses, be careful with the third. Three felonies, provided they were committed consecutively after each conviction, qualify a defendant for common criminal status.
Given the wide range of
crime classes, North Carolina’s crime classes range from Class A to Class I. Multiple crimes are included in each of these classes. In terms of the range of crime classes, the rules for common offenders might work as follows:
- A person’s criminal record includes charges of possession of a controlled substance and possession of a firearm on school property, both of which are felonies Class I.
- Now they face another Class I drug possession conviction. Under the common offender laws, the penalties would be the same as for a class E crime.
What are the penalties for each strike?
Penalties increase for each strike or felony conviction suffered by an offender and depend on the seriousness of the charge. For example, a person convicted of two violent felonies is considered a violent habitual offender and could face life in prison without parole depending on North Carolina’s sentencing policies and options.
Crimes in North Carolina range from Class A (the most severe penalties) to Class I (the least serious crimes). Penalties for each class include:
By criminal defense attorneys at the Knox Law Center in Charlotte and Lake Norman
Well we do. We don’t call it that. This is jargon from some other states but our situation is called a common felony or a common misdemeanor but it depends on your criminal history. It’s a weird part of the law because it’s a state, it’s not something you’ve done, you’ve committed a crime, and then they add an indictment that you’ve been convicted enough times that you’re a so-called are habitual offenders. The jury, in a separate trial, after you’re found guilty, consider it a formality, just look at the documents, and then you’ll be convicted. It’s odd as far as the legal formalities go, but in practice it means that in North Carolina you can be tried as a common criminal if you’ve been convicted of three felonies before being convicted of a fourth. . It significantly increases and increases the sentence depending on the crime you are convicted of. We also have, it’s unusual, but we have a common misdemeanor that makes it a crime and that applies to assault. If you have committed two or more assaults within a 15-year period and have been convicted of two or more assaults in North Carolina, your misdemeanor assault will be escalated to a felony if you receive your third assault that causes injury. You will be punished as a criminal.