State v. Kenneth Laurell Barr
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An unpublished opinion of the North Carolina Court of Appeals does not constitute controlling legal authority. Citation is disfavored, but may be permitted in accordance with the provisions of Rule 30(e)(3) of the North Carolina Rules of Appellate Procedure. IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF NORTH CAROLINA 2021-NCCOA-328 No. COA20-754 Filed 6 July 2021 Forsyth County, Nos. 17 CRS 60340, 18 CRS 1959 STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA v. KENNETH LAURELL BARR Appeal by defendant from judgment entered 2 June 2020 by Judge David L. Hall in Forsyth County Superior Court. Heard in the Court of Appeals 9 June 2021. Attorney General Joshua H. Stein, by Assistant Attorney General Thomas J. Felling, for the State. Richard Croutharmel for defendant-appellant. ZACHARY, Judge. ¶1 Defendant Kenneth Laurell Barr appeals from a judgment entered upon his guilty plea. Counsel for Defendant filed an Anders brief on Defendant’s behalf. After careful review, we affirm. ¶2 On 31 July 2019, Defendant entered into a plea agreement with the State in which he agreed to plead guilty to charges of possession of cocaine and attaining the status of a habitual felon, in exchange for dismissal of a charge of possession of up to one-half of one ounce of marijuana and a sentence “at the bottom of the mitigated STATE V. BARR 2021-NCCOA-328 Opinion of the Court range.” The trial court subsequently entered judgment in accordance with the plea agreement and sentenced Defendant to a term of 30 to 48 months in the custody of the North Carolina Division of Adult Correction. Defendant entered oral notice of appeal in open court. Counsel appointed to represent Defendant on appeal has been unable to ¶3 identify any issue with sufficient merit to support a meaningful argument for relief. Counsel thus asks that this Court conduct its own review of the record for possible prejudicial error. Counsel has also shown to the satisfaction of this Court that he has complied with the requirements of Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738, 18 L. Ed. 2d 493, reh’g denied, 388 U.S. 924, 18 L. Ed. 2d 1377 (1967), and State v. Kinch, 314 N.C. 99, 331 S.E.2d 665 (1985), by advising Defendant of his right to file his own written arguments with this Court, and by providing him with the documents necessary to do so. ¶4 Defendant has not filed any written arguments on his own behalf with this Court, and a reasonable time in which he could have done so has passed. In his Anders brief, Defendant’s counsel raises four potential issues for our review, including one suggested to him by Defendant; however, none of those arguments embrace any of the limited issues for which Defendant has an appeal of right following his guilty plea. See generally N.C. Gen. Stat. § 15A-1444(a1)–(a2) (2019). Nor do any of the proposed issues have merit, based on our careful review of the record. Defendant thus STATE V. BARR 2021-NCCOA-328 Opinion of the Court is not entitled to relief on these bases. ¶5 As required by Anders and Kinch, we have conducted a full examination of the record for any issue with arguable merit. We have been unable to find any error, and we conclude that this appeal presents no issue that might entitle Defendant to relief. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment entered in this case. AFFIRMED. Judges DILLON and HAMPSON concur. Report per Rule 30(e).
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