TYSON , Judge . Walton North Carolina, LLC and Walton NC Concord, LP (collectively "Walton") appeal from the trial court's order denying its motion for summary judgment and granting summary judgment in favor of The City of Concord (the "City"). We affirm. I. Background A. History of the Property The property at issue consists of 275.637 acres of unimproved land located on Odell School Road in Concord, North Carolina. The property was annexed into the city limits as of 30 September 2005,...
ELMORE , Judge . Plaintiff WLAE, LLC, appeals from two dismissal orders, one each of which was entered in favor of defendants Robert L. Edwards and Wolf Arbin Weinhold, and both of which were entered pursuant to Rule 12(b)(1) of the North Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure. Because plaintiff lacked standing at the time its complaint was filed, the trial court correctly determined that it did not have subject matter jurisdiction over the proceeding. Accordingly, we affirm the dismissal orders...
BERGER , Judge . The North Carolina Department of Transportation ("NCDOT") appeals an October 3, 2016 order (the "Order") that addressed three issues in an inverse condemnation action filed by two hundred and eleven plaintiffs in both Forsyth and Guilford Counties against NCDOT seeking just compensation for the regulatory taking effectuated by NCDOT's recordation of a transportation corridor map pursuant to N.C. Gen. Stat. 136-44.50 to .54 (the "Map Act"). In some instances, the plaintiff'...
MURPHY , Judge . Individuals with latent health conditions are not members of a suspect class, and access to a claim against the North Carolina Insurance Guaranty Association does not affect a fundamental right. The distinctions imposed by statute are subject to minimum scrutiny under the Equal Protection Clause and do not violate the North Carolina or United States Constitutions, as they further legitimate State interests. Thelma Bonner Booth ("Plaintiff"), as the administratrix of the...
DILLON , Judge . Joanna Roberta Madonna ("Defendant") appeals from judgment entered upon a jury verdict finding her guilty of first-degree murder. I. Background Defendant and Jose Perez ("Mr. Perez") met in 2008 and were married in 2009. In June 2013, Mr. Perez was killed during an altercation with Defendant. At trial, Defendant proceeded on a theory of self-defense. Mr. Perez and Defendant were the only individuals at the scene of the altercation. Because Mr. Perez did not live to tell...
INMAN , Judge . The County of Currituck, the Currituck County Board of Commissioners, and members of that Board (collectively, "Defendants") appeal from the trial court's denial of their motion to set aside entry of default and the trial court's grant of default judgment in favor of Swan Beach Corolla, L.L.C., Ocean Associates, LP, Little Neck Towers, L.L.C., Gerald Friedman, Nancy Friedman, Charles S. Friedman, `til Morning, LLC, and Second Star, LLC (collectively, "Plaintiffs")....
ARROWOOD , Judge . Appalachian State University ("defendant") appeals from the Full Commission's dismissal of its appeal on 28 November 2016. For the following reasons, we dismiss defendant's appeal. I. Background Belinda Foushee ("plaintiff"), as executor of the estate of her daughter Anneka Foushee, commenced this wrongful death action against defendant on 7 April 2016 by filing a Form T-1 Affidavit with the North Carolina Industrial Commission (the "Commission") under the North...
ROBERT N. HUNTER, JR. , Judge . Andrea Morrell ("Andrea"), G. Pony Morrell ("Morrell"), and The Pasta Wench, Inc. ("The Pasta Wench") (collectively "Plaintiffs") appeal the 27 April 2016 order by Judge William Coward granting summary judgment in favor of Hardin Creek, Inc. ("Hardin Creek"), John Sidney Greene ("S. Greene"), and Hardin Creek Timberframe and Millwork, Inc. ("Timberframe") (collectively "Defendants"), and dismissing Plaintiff's third party complaint against John Ellis Greene ("...
INMAN , Judge . [C]ompassion is a natural feeling . . . that hurries us without reflection to the relief of those who are in distress: it is this which in a state of nature supplies the place of laws, morals and virtues. . . . [T]he origin of society and law . . . irretrievably destroyed natural liberty . . . and serve as a substitute for natural compassion, which lost, when applied to societies, almost all the influence it had over individuals. . . . The people having in respect of their...
BERGER , Judge . C. Terry Hunt Industries, Inc. ("Hunt") appeals from the order filed on May 31, 2016 granting the motion to compel arbitration made by Klausner Lumber Two, LLC ("Klausner"). Hunt also appeals from the order filed on June 17, 2016 denying both the motion to reconsider the order granting the motion to compel arbitration, and the motion to alter or amend the order. The interlocutory order compelled arbitration in Hunt's lawsuit claiming breach of a preliminary agreement for a...
DAVIS , Judge . This appeal requires us to once again examine the issue of when a defendant is entitled to recover on an injunction bond previously posted by the plaintiff after the plaintiff voluntarily dismisses the lawsuit. Plaintiff Van-Go Transportation, Inc. ("Van-Go") appeals from the trial court's order awarding damages to Sampson County (the "County") and EnRoute Transportation Services, Inc. ("EnRoute") (collectively "Defendants"). Because we conclude that the trial court properly...
DAVIS , Judge . This case requires us to consider whether a promissory note is unenforceable where a failure to abide by the statute of frauds invalidated the consideration intended to support the note. Defendants Helmi L. Felfel and Laura C. Felfel (the "Felfels") appeal from the trial court's order denying their motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict following a jury verdict finding that the Felfels breached their obligations under the note. Because we conclude that the...
Robert N. HUNTER, JR. , Judge . Gwendolyn Parmley, individually and as Administratrix of the Estate of John Parmley, Jr., ("Plaintiff") appeals from the trial court's 30 June 2016 order granting partial summary judgment in favor of Defendants Johnathan Brent Fulcher, B&J Contracting, LLC, B&J Seafood, LLC, B&J Contracting and B&J Contracting, Inc. Subsequently Plaintiff voluntarily dismissed without prejudice her claims against remaining Defendants Everett Barrow and B&J Seafood, Inc.,...
ZACHARY , Judge . Plaintiff Richard C. Wilson appeals from an order dismissing his civil claims against Pershing, LLC (Pershing), Bank of New York Mellon (BNY Mellon), JBS Liberty Securities, Inc. (JBS Liberty), Synergy Investment Group, LLC (Synergy), JBS Group, LLC (JBS Group), RBC Capital Markets Corporation (RBCCMC), and John Doe I (collectively, defendants) pursuant to Rules 12(b)(1), (4), and (6) of the North Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure. For the reasons that follow, we affirm...
INMAN , Judge . A decision by the North Carolina Industrial Commission that contains contradictory factual findings and misapplies controlling law must be set aside and remanded to the Commission to determine, in light of the correct legal standards, factual and legal issues regarding whether an employee's injury arose out of and in the course of his employment. Shaun Weaver ("Plaintiff" or "Mr. Weaver") appeals from an Opinion and Award of the Full Commission of the North Carolina...
MURPHY , Judge . Moon Wright & Houston, PLLC ("Plaintiff"), appeals from the trial court's order partially granting Sandra and Charles Cole's (collectively "Defendants") motion for summary judgment. After careful review, we dismiss Plaintiff's appeal as interlocutory. Factual Background On 27 August 2015, Plaintiff, a law firm operating out of Charlotte, North Carolina, filed a complaint in Mecklenburg County Superior Court against Sandra Cole ("Sandra") and Charles Cole ("Charles")...
ZACHARY , Judge . Appellants Vicque and Christalyn Thompson ("the Thompsons") appeal from an order of the trial court that allowed the substitute trustee appointed by appellee USAA Federal Savings Bank ("the Bank") to foreclose on a loan secured by property owned by the Thompsons. On appeal, the Thompsons argue that the trial court erred by failing to vacate an earlier order of the Clerk of Superior Court of Onslow County allowing foreclosure and by entering the order permitting the...
