After granting the State’s petition for discretionary review, the Supreme Court in May 2019 affirmed the Court of Appeals’ dismissal by a 4-3 decision.To avoid double jeopardy concerns, statutes authorizing appeals by the State in criminal cases are strictly construed against the State. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 15A-1445 (entitled “Appeals by the State”) lists trial court orders that the State may appeal–and expungement orders are not on that list.The State sought to take the case outside of section 15A-1445 by arguing that expunction hearings—similar to satellite-based monitoring proceedings—are separate proceedings that produce civil judgments that are appealable as of right under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 7A-27.Justice Earls’ majority opinion (joined by Justices Beasley, Hudson, and Morgan) rejected the State’s position that expunction proceedings are civil in nature.