This post summarizes the lone published opinion in a criminal case issued by the North Carolina Court of Appeals on July 15, 2026.

(1) Possession of multiple concealed firearms on a single occasion is a single offense. (2) The trial court erred by imposing a 24-month period of probation as a community punishment without making specific findings. (3) The trial judge did not improperly consider acquitted conduct during sentencing.

State v. Simpson, COA24-1092 (N.C. Ct. App. July 15, 2026) (Buncombe County) (Carpenter). This opinion is the reconsideration of an opinion initially entered on January 7, 2026, and summarized here. Officers searched the defendant’s car when they observed the defendant and her sister apparently using drugs in it. Officers found two firearms in the car. The defendant was charged multiple drug crimes and two counts of carrying a concealed firearm. At trial, the defendant was found not guilty of the drug crimes, but convicted of two counts of carrying a concealed firearm. The trial court consolidated those convictions for sentencing and imposed a community punishment, sentencing the defendant to 30 days of imprisonment, suspended for 24 months of probation. The trial court did not make a specific finding that a period of probation longer than 18 months was required. Additionally, at sentencing, the trial court rejected the defendant’s requests for unsupervised probation and a prayer for judgment continued, saying that it could not “ignore the facts of the case,” including the money and drugs related to the crimes for which the defendant was acquitted. The defendant appealed.

(1) The trial court erred by entering judgment on two counts of carrying a concealed firearm under G.S. 14-269 based on the defendant having two weapons on a single occasion. Analogizing to prior cases on possession of firearm by felon and other crimes, the court concluded that use of the word “any” in the statute was ambiguous as to the allowable unit of prosecution. Applying the rule of lenity, the court concluded that the unit of prosecution is based on the single incident, not on the number of firearms concealed. The court thus vacated the consolidated judgment and remanded to the trial court. (2) The trial court erred by sentencing the defendant to 24 months of supervised probation. Under G.S. 15A-1343.2(d), the maximum term of probation for a misdemeanor sentenced to community punishment is 18 months unless the judge makes specific findings that a longer period is necessary. The judge here erred by imposing a longer probation period without specific findings. (3) The trial court did not err by improperly considering acquitted conduct during sentencing. In explaining its sentencing decision, the trial court stated that it could not ignore “the amount of money, the guns, the vacuum-sealed item.” The defendant contended that the judge’s remarks alluded to the drug activity of which the defendant had been acquitted. The appellate court “caution[ed] against discussing ‘acquitted conduct’ during sentencing,” slip op. at 12, but concluded that the trial court did not err by doing so here. As to the appropriate remedy, the court authorized the trial court to resentence the defendant if the sentence has not already been completed, which would make the sentencing issue moot.