Criminal Practice – Sentencing – Amendment – Defendant’s Absence – Prior Record Level

State v. Briggs (Lawyers Weekly No. 011-292-16, 9 pp.) (Lucy Inman, J.) Appealed from Union County Superior Court (Christopher Bragg & W. David Lee, JJ.) N.C. App.

Holding: Even if the trial court was merely correcting a mistake in defendant’s sentence, since that correction resulted in a longer sentence for defendant, it could not be done outside his presence.

Remanded for resentencing.

Although defense counsel did not sign the state’s prior record level worksheet, defense counsel’s failure to object when given the chance to do so constituted a stipulation to defendant’s prior felony conviction.