State v. Stephenson

Summary

The court held that the Appellate Court improperly reversed the defendant’s convictions on a distinct evidentiary-sufficiency issue that the defendant had not raised and the parties had not briefed. Although an appellate court may address an unraised sufficiency issue in appropriate circumstances, it must first provide the parties a meaningful opportunity for supplemental briefing or argument. The judgment was reversed and the case remanded for consideration of the claims actually raised, with any renewed sua sponte review conducted consistently with that requirement.