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374 N.C.—No. 2 Pages 273-435 374 N.C.—No. 2 ADVANCE SHEETS OF CASES ARGUED AND DETERMINED IN THE SUPREME COURT OF NORTH CAROLINA Pages 273-435 JULY 29, 2020 MAILING ADDRESS: The Judicial Department P. O. Box 2170, Raleigh, N. C. 27602-2170 COMMERCIAL PRINTING COMPANY PRINTERS TO THE SUPREME COURT AND THE COURT OF APPEALS THE SUPREME COURT OF NORTH CAROLINA Chief Justice CHERI BEASLEY Associate Justices PAUL MARTIN NEWBY MICHAEL R. MORGAN ROBIN E. HUDSON ANITA EARLS SAMUEL J. ERVIN, IV MARK A. DAVIS Former Chief Justices RHODA B. BILLINGS JAMES G. EXUM, JR. BURLEY B. MITCHELL, JR. HENRY E. FRYE SARAH PARKER MARK D. MARTIN Former Justices ROBERT R. BROWNING GEORGE L. WAINWRIGHT, JR. J. PHIL CARLTON EDWARD THOMAS BRADY WILLIS P. WHICHARD PATRICIA TIMMONS-GOODSON JAMES A. WYNN, JR. ROBERT N. HUNTER, JR. FRANKLIN E. FREEMAN, JR. ROBERT H. EDMUNDS, JR. G. K. BUTTERFIELD, JR. BARBARA A. JACKSON ROBERT F. ORR Clerk AMY L. FUNDERBURK Librarian THOMAS P. DAVIS i ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICE OF THE COURTS Director MCKINLEY WOOTEN1 Assistant Director DAVID F. HOKE OFFICE OF APPELLATE DIVISION REPORTER HARRY JAMES HUTCHESON2 ALYSSA M. CHEN3 JENNIFER C. PETERSON NICCOLLE C. HERNANDEZ4 1Appointed 2 March 2020. 2Retired 29 May 2020. 3Appointed Appellate Division Reporter 1 June 2020. 4Appointed Assistant Appellate Division Reporter 8 June 2020. ii SUPREME COURT OF NORTH CAROLINA CASES REPORTED FILED 1 MAY 2020 Chappell v. N.C. Dep’t of Transp. .... 273 State v. Hobbs .................... 345 DTH Media Corp. v. Folt ........... 292 State v. Mylett .................... 376 In re A.G.D. ...................... 317 Winston Affordable Hous., LLC State v. Bailey .................... 332 v. Roberts . 395 State v. Ellis ...................... 340 ORDERS Dellinger v. Lincoln Cty. ............ 411 Union Cty. Bd. of Educ. v. Bd. DTH Media Corp. v. Folt ........... 412 of Trs., Teachers’ and State Johnston Cty. Bd. of Educ. v. Bd. Emps.’ Ret. Sys. 419 of Trs.,Teachers’ and State Union Cty. Bd. of Educ. v. Dep’t Emps.’ Ret. Sys. 413 of State Treasurer, Johnston Cty. Bd. of Educ. v. Dep’t Ret. Sys. Div. ................... 420 of State Treasurer, Ret. Wilkes Cty. Bd. of Educ. v. Bd. Sys. Div. ....................... 414 of Trs., Teachers’ and State N.C. State Conference of the NAACP Emps.’ Ret. Sys. 421 v. Cooper ...................... 415 Wilkes Cty. Bd. of Educ. v. Dep’t State v. Beal ...................... 416 of State Treasurer, State v. Bell ...................... 417 Ret. Sys. Div. ................... 422 State v. Wynn ..................... 418 PETITIONS FOR DISCRETIONARY REVIEW UNDER G.S. 7A-31 Calatlantic Grp., Inc. v. Cty. of Union . 426 Johnston Cty. Bd. of Educ. v. Dep’t of Carrington v. Carolina Day Sch., Inc. 426 State Treasurer . 431 Clark v. US Airways, Inc. ........... 424 Lennar Carolinas, LLC v. Cty. Courtney NC, LLC v. Baldwin ....... 429 of Union ....................... 426 Crop Prod. Servs., Inc. v. Pearson .... 424 M/I Homes of Charlotte, LLC v. Cty. Dellinger v. Lincoln Cty. ............ 430 of Union ....................... 426 Eastwood Constr. Co., Inc. v. Cty. Macias v. BSI Assocs., Inc. .......... 434 of Union ....................... 426 Martin v. Irwin .................... 425 Garrett v. Goodyear Tire McInnis Constr. Co., Inc. v. Cty. & Rubber Co.................... 433 of Union ....................... 426 Griffin v. Absolute Fire Control, Inc... 423 N.C. State Conference of NAACP Grodner v. Grodner . 430 v. Cooper . 428 Gurkin v. Sofield................... 433 Nathaniel v. State.................. 428 Hampton v. Hearn ................. 425 Pace/Dowd Props., Ltd v. Cty. Henderson v. Vaughn............... 427 of Union ....................... 426 In re D.M. ........................ 430 Raleigh Hous. Auth. v. Winston ...... 433 In re K.J. ......................... 433 Rickenbaugh v. Power Home In re Moorehead I, LLC ............. 434 Solar, LLC ..................... 427 In re Wilson ...................... 428 Riopelle v. Riopelle ................ 423 Jackson v. Gen. Elec. Co. ........... 425 Shea Homes, LLC v. Cty. of Union .... 426 Johnston Cty. Bd. of Educ. v. Bd. of Trs., Shops At Chestnut, LLC v. Cty. Teachers’ & State Emps.’ of Union ....................... 426 Ret. Sys. ....................... 432 State v. Asanov.................... 427 iii State v. Baldwin . 424 State v. Spencer ................... 434 State v. Beal ...................... 425 State v. Taylor..................... 428 State v. Bell....................... 425 State v. Thomas ................... 434 State v. Burney .................... 427 State v. Trice...................... 433 State v. Chavez .................... 429 State v. Washington . 423 State v. Cruz ...................... 428 State v. White ..................... 427 State v. Cruz ...................... 429 State v. Wynn ..................... 427 State v. Diaz-Tomas ................ 423 Stathum-Ward v. Wal-Mart State v. Edgerton .................. 427 Stores, Inc...................... 429 State v. Freeman .................. 435 Taylor v. Bank of Am., N.A........... 425 State v. Fuller . 432 True Homes, LLC v. Cty. of Union .... 426 State v. Gordon.................... 430 U.S. Bank Nat’l Ass’n v. Wood ....... 434 State v. Graham ................... 428 Union Cty. Bd. of Educ. v. Bd. of Trs., State v. Gupton.................... 434 Teachers’ & State Emps.’ State v. Harvin .................... 435 Ret. Sys. ....................... 432 State v. Horne..................... 424 Union Cty. Bd. of Educ. v. Dep’t of State v. Jenkins.................... 434 State Treasurer . 432 State v. McCann . 433 Wilkes Cty. Bd. of Educ. v. Bd. of Trs., State v. Moore..................... 423 Teachers’ & State Emps.’ State v. Nance..................... 423 Ret. Sys. ....................... 431 State v. Phifer ..................... 425 Wilkes Cty. Bd. of Educ. v. Dep’t of State v. Scott...................... 423 State Treasurer . 431 State v. Shamberger................ 432 HEADNOTE INDEX CONSPIRACY To commit juror harassment—agreement—sufficiency of evidence— Defendant’s conviction of conspiracy to harass jurors was reversed where the State presented insufficient evidence of an agreement to threaten or intimidate jurors fol- lowing the conviction of defendant’s brother for assault. Although defendant, his brother, and his brother’s girlfriend all interacted with multiple jurors in the hallway outside of the courtroom, most of defendant’s contact with the jurors occurred in a relatively brief amount of time when defendant was alone, and there was almost no evidence that defendant’s group communicated with each other or that they syn- chronized their behavior to support an inference, beyond mere suspicion, that they had reached a mutual understanding to harass the jurors. State v. Mylett, 376. EMINENT DOMAIN Inverse condemnation—Map Act—recordation of roadway corridor map— compensation for taxes paid—In an inverse condemnation action filed by home- owners after the N.C. Department of Transportation (NCDOT) filed a roadway corridor map encompassing their property, the trial court properly took into account the taxes paid by the homeowners—on property that essentially had no fair market value after the map was recorded—when considering the amount of compensation due the homeowners. Chappell v. N.C. Dep’t of Transp., 273. Inverse condemnation—pre-judgment interest—prudent investor standard —appropriate interest rate—In an inverse condemnation action filed by home- owners after the N.C. Department of Transportation (NCDOT) filed a roadway corri- dor map encompassing their property, the trial court erred in applying a compounded iv EMINENT DOMAIN—Continued interest rate of 8% per annum to the value of both the 1992 and 2006 takings when determining pre-judgment interest, because this method essentially combined two allowable methods rather than choosing between them. A party may choose between a presumptively reasonable statutory rate pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 24-1, or rebut that rate with a prudent investor rate compounded, if compounded rates would have been available. Further, the trial court erred by basing its decision on a non-diversi- fied prudent investor’s investment portfolio. The issue was remanded to determine the appropriate interest rate. Chappell v. N.C. Dep’t of Transp., 273. Inverse condemnation—quick-take procedure by NCDOT—timeliness of filing—In an inverse condemnation action filed by homeowners after the N.C. Department of Transportation (NCDOT) filed a roadway corridor map encompassing their property, the trial court did not abuse its discretion by allowing the proceeding to continue to trial despite NCDOT having filed a motion for a permissive counter- claim to assert quick-take rights under N.C.G.S. § 136-104 (which would allow it to take title immediately to the subject property). Trial courts have broad discre- tion pursuant to section 136-114 to make all necessary orders and rules to carry out the purpose of the condemnation statutes, the trial court in this case did not block NCDOT’s right to assert a permissive counterclaim under all circumstances, and the trial court properly took into account the length of time the proceeding had been pending (over three years) before denying NCDOT’s attempt to assert its right two months prior to trial. Chappell v. N.C. Dep’t of Transp., 273. Inverse condemnation—recordation of roadway corridor map—fair market value—expert testimony—In an inverse condemnation action filed by homeown- ers after the N.C. Department of Transportation (NCDOT) filed a roadway corridor map encompassing