Abstract:
This bulletin discusses two closely related provisions of North Carolina law that specifically target repeat serious offenders: the habitual felon laws and the violent habitual felon laws. The bulletin is a \"user's manual\" for these provisions. It discusses which offenses can support charges under the habitual felon and violent habitual felon laws, the procedures that apply to such prosecutions, how sentencing works in such cases, and other practical issues. The bulletin will help judges and lawyers to answer questions that regularly arise during habitual felon and violent habitual felon cases and to recognize areas of the law in which unanswered questions remain.