Criminal Law Blog. Launched in January 2009, this new blog by faculty member Jeff Welty includes postings about current criminal law issues, answers to recurrent questions that Welty receives from the field, and interesting theories about criminal law that he has stumbled upon. This post summarizes the published criminal opinions from the North Carolina Court of Appeals released on March 5, 2024. These summaries will be added to Smith’s Criminal Case Compendium, a free …Feb 14, 2012 · Restitution. February 14, 2012 by Jamie Markham. Our appellate courts spend a lot of time writing about restitution. Consequently, so do I. Prior posts discuss some of the thornier restitution issues that come up from time to time. There’s this one on restitution for drug-buy money; this one on restitution to victims of unconvicted conduct ... The right to act in self-defense depended primarily on the authority of court decisions. The General Assembly’s adoption in 2011 of three defensive force statutes—G.S. 14-51.2, G.S. 14-51.3, and G.S. 14-51.4—changed that. An understanding of the law of self-defense in North Carolina now must begin with the statutory law of self-defense.May 31, 2018 · In 2012, the General Assembly enacted a final statutory limit on PJCs in G.S. 15A-1331.2. Under that law, the court shall not dispose of any Class B1–E felony by ordering a PJC that exceeds 12 months. Any PJC ordered in those cases must include as a condition that the State shall pray judgment within some specific time not to exceed 12 months. This post summarizes the published criminal opinions from the North Carolina Court of Appeals released on March 5, 2024. These summaries will be added to Smith’s Criminal Case Compendium, a free … John Rubin. Published for NC Criminal Law on December 08, 2021. As in recent sessions, the General Assembly remained active in revising North Carolina’s expunction laws. The biggest changes came in S.L. 2021-118 (S 301), as amended by section 2.3 of S.L. 2021-167 (H 761). The legislation expanded the opportunity for a person to expunge older ... Ordinarily, police departments cannot access personal bank account information, which is protected by key privacy rights in the United States (laws for accessing banking informatio...As the largest university-based local government training, advisory, and research organization in the United States, the School of Government serves more than 12,000 public officials each year. The School provides content and resources for a wide array of local government and judicial officials in North Carolina.Sep 13, 2023 · The new 48-hour law applies to defendants who were on pretrial release before October 1. New G.S. 15A-533 (h) is effective for offenses committed on or after October 1, 2023. This language means that the new 48-hour rule applies to all offenses committed on or after that date, regardless of when the defendant was released on pretrial release. Published for NC Criminal Law on June 14, 2018. Under the Crawford Confrontation Clause rule, testimonial statements by witnesses who aren’t subject to cross-examination at trial can’t be admitted unless the witness is unavailable and there has been a prior opportunity for cross-examination.The new 48-hour law applies to defendants who were on pretrial release before October 1. New G.S. 15A-533 (h) is effective for offenses committed on or after October 1, 2023. This language means that the new 48-hour rule applies to all offenses committed on or after that date, regardless of when the defendant …Blogs | NC Criminal Law. New SOG Bulletin: ... Feel free to reach me anytime at [email protected] or (919) 962-9594. Finally, I want to say a very genuine thank you to Aimee Wall, John Rubin, Sara DePasquale, and Phil Dixon, Jr., for their significant contributions to this bulletin.About the SOG Judicial College’s Certification Program for Magistrates. The Judicial College offers magistrates the opportunity to become certified upon completion of a specific combination of Judicial College seminars and general training events. Two types of certifications are offered, one in criminal law and …Criminal behavior is defined as an act or failure to act in a way that violates public law. Public law is most often established by a governing body, and will therefore vary betwee...The court of appeals in State v. Taylor, 212 N.C. App. 238, 248–49 (2011), held that that two-year statute of limitations for misdemeanor offenses does not apply when the issue of a defendant’s guilt of a misdemeanor offense is submitted to the jury as a lesser included offense of a properly charged felony. In …The Supreme Court of North Carolina held in State v.Grady, ___ N.C. ___ (2019), that satellite-based monitoring (SBM) of sex offenders is unconstitutional as applied to any unsupervised person who was ordered to enroll in SBM solely because he or she is a recidivist.By unsupervised, the court meant a person not on probation, parole, or post …Law is the part of the justice system that focuses on enforcing specific rules and regulations when one party can show harm. The justice system includes all entities involved in th...Phil Dixon Jr. Published for NC Criminal Law on February 23, 2022. In an earlier post, I wrote that simple possession of fentanyl was a misdemeanor Schedule II offense under then-current law. No more. Effective Dec. 1, 2021, fentanyl possession in any amount is treated as a felony.G.S. 50B-4.1 is the primary criminal provision and establishes several offenses. It provides, as a basic violation, that a person who knowingly violates a valid protective order is guilty of a Class A1 misdemeanor. The elements “knowledge” and “valid protective order” have been the subject of litigation over the years.No. In State v. Lee, 232 N.C. App. 256 (2014), the defendant’s probation was revoked based on a “commit no new criminal offense” violation that was alleged like this: The defendant argued that the court did not have jurisdiction to act on the violation because it was framed solely around the pending charges.This new report from the Council on Criminal Justice says that homicide and violent crimes fell last year in 38 studied cities, but property crimes were mixed and car thefts were way up. Violent crimes are still above pre-pandemic levels, but seem to be getting closer to that baseline. The report has much more detail for interested readers.Sep 7, 2021 · Each year the School of Government summarizes legislation enacted by the North Carolina General Assembly affecting criminal law and procedure and motor vehicle laws. We also explore selected legislation in more depth on this blog. Most criminal law legislation has an effective date of December 1 to allow the courts to prepare for the changes. The North Carolina General Assembly has been hard at work this legislative session, having already passed several bills affecting criminal law and procedure. There are a handful of laws that have already taken effect. As is typically the case, most of the other laws have an effective date of December 1 to allow the courts to prepare for the ...Visual Estimates of Speed and "Slight Speeding". Jeffrey B. Welty. Published for NC Criminal Law on July 11, 2012. The Fourth Circuit recently decided United States v. Sowards, an interesting case about a traffic stop. The case arose when an experienced traffic enforcement officer stopped the defendant on I-77 near Charlotte.New Resource on Employment Outcomes for People Leaving Prison. January 30, 2024 by Jessica Smith. The North Carolina Department of Commerce has created a new online tool called The NC Reentry Outcome Reporting System. The tool shows employment outcomes for people leaving the state prison system. The numbers …In a post here, I noted that under state law, counties, cities, towns, and metropolitan sewerage districts have authority to create crimes through local ordinances.This is a somewhat controversial issue. As I’ve noted, one of the arguments made in the national conversation about overcriminalization is that too many minor …The connection to federal law stems from G.S. 14-208.12A(a1)(2), which says that a court may grant a petition for removal only if “[t]he requested relief complies with the federal Jacob Wetterling Act, as amended, and any other federal standards applicable to the termination of a registration requirement or required to be met as a condition for the …Each year the School of Government summarizes legislation enacted by the North Carolina General Assembly affecting criminal law and procedure and motor vehicle laws. We also explore selected legislation in more depth on this blog.This post summarizes the published criminal opinions from the North Carolina Court of Appeals released on February 20, 2024. These summaries will be added to Smith’s Criminal Case Compendium, a free and searchable database of case summaries from 2008 to the present. The summary of In re Laliveres below was prepared by Prof. …May 31, 2018 · In 2012, the General Assembly enacted a final statutory limit on PJCs in G.S. 15A-1331.2. Under that law, the court shall not dispose of any Class B1–E felony by ordering a PJC that exceeds 12 months. Any PJC ordered in those cases must include as a condition that the State shall pray judgment within some specific time not to exceed 12 months. the defendant named above unlawfully, willfully and feloniously with deceit and intent to defraud, did commit the infamous offense of obstruction of justice by knowingly …SORNA Tier Chart. James M. Markham. Published for NC Criminal Law on June 15, 2017. Over two years ago I said I would someday try to sort North Carolina’s reportable sex crimes into the tiers set out in the federal Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA). Today’s the day. The chart is available here.James M. Markham. Published for NC Criminal Law on September 16, 2020. The Administrative Office of the Courts has issued a new form, AOC-CR-415, through which a person can make a motion for relief from costs, fines, and other monetary obligations. The form also doubles as the order through which a judge can rule on the motion. Reference and research services are available to all residents of North Carolina, and additional assistance is available to state and local government personnel, both elected and appointed. Blogs. Below you will find an index of our blogs. Use the filters to make your search more specific. Published for NC Criminal Law on March 02, 2017. In North Carolina, probationers, post-release supervisees, and parolees are subject to warrantless searches—sometimes by a probation-parole officer, sometimes by law enforcement officers. The statutory conditions that apply to each type of offender and officer …February 8, 2024 by Alex Phipps. This post summarizes the published criminal opinions from the North Carolina Court of Appeals released on February 6, 2024. These …Jan 18, 2017 · The rules. G.S. 15A-928 sets forth the procedures the prosecutor and superior court judge must follow “when the fact that the defendant has been previously convicted of an offense raises an offense of lower grade to one of higher grade and thereby becomes an element of the latter.”. These are the rules that govern pleading, arraignment and ... The blog covers various topics related to criminal law in North Carolina, such as case summaries, news, book reviews, and policy issues. It is updated regularly …U.S. campaign finance law places limits on how much money political donors can give per election cycle; also, it is illegal for donors to skirt these limits by making additional do...The first type of arrest of judgment is one that vacates a judgment in response to a “fatal flaw on the face of the record”—usually a defect in the indictment. See, e.g., State v. Harris, 219 N.C. App. 590 (2012). The effect of that sort of arrest of judgment is to vacate a conviction. See State v.U.S. campaign finance law places limits on how much money political donors can give per election cycle; also, it is illegal for donors to skirt these limits by making additional do...Dec 4, 2023 · Case Summaries: N.C. Supreme Court (Oct. 20, 2023) October 25, 2023 by Alex Phipps. This post summarizes the published criminal opinions from the Supreme Court of North Carolina released on October 20, 2023. These summaries will be added to Smith’s Criminal Case Compendium, a free and searchable database of case summaries from 2008 to the ... In State v. Humphreys, ___ N.C. App. ___ (Dec. 31, 2020), the defendant’s daughter drove the defendant’s car to high school. During a random canine walkthrough of the school’s parking lot, the dog alerted on the car. The defendant was notified and quickly arrived on scene.Mar 2, 2023 · Shea Riggsbee Denning. Published for NC Criminal Law on March 02, 2023. The Sixth Amendment provides that a person accused of a crime “shall enjoy a public trial.”. This right is grounded in the belief that judges and prosecutors will carry out their duties more responsibly in open court than they might in secret proceedings as well as the ... The breakdown. Nearly 60 percent of misdemeanor DWIs (19,720 to be exact) were sentenced at the lowest level of punishment: Level 5. Two percent (643) were sentenced at the highest level of punishment: Aggravated Level 1. Sixty percent of DWI sentences placed the defendant on unsupervised probation, while 33 percent placed the …Nonautomatic Sex Offender Registration. James M. Markham. Published for NC Criminal Law on August 13, 2020. For the most part, if a defendant is convicted of a crime included in the list of reportable offenses, the defendant must register. But some crimes require registration only if the judge orders it.Arson Law Revisions. Published for NC Criminal Law on June 27, 2022. The North Carolina General Assembly recently passed S.L. 2022-8 which makes various changes to the existing arson laws. The new criminal provisions go into effect on December 1, 2022 and apply to offenses committed on or after that date. The law includes a savings clause which ...Denning has written extensively about North Carolina’s motor vehicle laws, including a book on the law of impaired driving. She is a regular contributor to the North Carolina Criminal Law blog and a co-coauthor of Pulled Over: The Law of Traffic Stops and Offenses in North Carolina. She joined the School of Government in 2003.Under current law, a law enforcement agency that receives a written request for disclosure of any such recording must “as promptly as possible” either … Reference and research services are available to all residents of North Carolina, and additional assistance is available to state and local government personnel, both elected and appointed. Criminal Law Blog. Covers North Carolina criminal law and procedure and related topics. Published for NC Criminal Law on June 19, 2023. Earlier this month, the Third Circuit, sitting en banc, found the federal felon-in-possession statute unconstitutional as applied. The decision was based on the new interpretive approach announced in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, 597 U.S. __, 142 S. Ct. 2111 (2022).Knoll motions. Everyone involved in DWI litigation knows about State v. Knoll, 322 N.C. 535 (1988), the case in which the state supreme court affirmed the dismissal of charges against three DWI defendants after determining that violations of the pretrial release statutes in each of their cases prejudiced their abilities to present a defense.The “single taking” rule prevents a defendant from being charged or convicted multiple times for a single continuous act or transaction. State v. Adams, 331 N.C. 317, 333 (1992). In larceny cases, the single taking rule works to punish a defendant for only one count of larceny regardless of how many items were taken … School of Government faculty Phil Dixon, Jr. and Danny Spiegel will discuss state and federal appellate court decisions and other recent criminal law developments. This course will be held on Friday, February 23, 2024 from 1:30 p.m. until 3:00 p.m. The registration deadline is Tuesday, February 20, 2024, at 5:00 p.m. DWI Update: May 2020 Edition. May 18, 2020 by Shea Denning. My colleagues and I usually spend the waning weeks of May slogging through months of appellate opinions, determining which cases merit discussion at upcoming summer conferences. This year, of course, there are no live summer conferences. Yet we are still slogging.Published for NC Criminal Law on July 01, 2014. With the amendment of Rule 702 of the North Carolina Rules of Evidence in 2011 , North Carolina became a Daubert state. That change means that trial judges in this state, like their federal counterparts, serve as gatekeepers when faced with a proffer of expert testimony.Published for NC Criminal Law on July 13, 2017. With another legislative session in the books, it’s time for an update to the sex offender registration and monitoring flow chart. The revised chart is here. In addition to routine citation and formatting maintenance, it makes the following changes.The leading criminal law treatise indicates that “all but a few” states have speedy trial statutes. 4 Wayne R. LaFave et al., Criminal Procedure, s. 18.3(c) (2d ed. 1999). My anecdotal sense is that most of those statutes set time limits far shorter than one year, i.e., that most of the statutes are more protective of a …Business Records: Posts, Chats, and Texts. March 9, 2021 by Jonathan Holbrook. Several prior posts on this blog have addressed authenticating and admitting …State v. Thorpe, ___ N.C. App. ___, 2021-NCCOA-701 (Dec. 21, 2021). The defendant, who had underlying health conditions, was not entitled to relief on a MAR under G.S. 15A-1415 (b) (8) on the basis of his prison sentence being invalid as a matter of law as a form of cruel and unusual punishment due to the coronavirus pandemic.Each year the School of Government summarizes legislation enacted by the North Carolina General Assembly affecting criminal law and procedure and motor vehicle laws. We also explore selected legislation in more depth on this blog.Outside the criminal law arena, lawyers will use AI to draft contracts and similar documents. One of the world’s largest law firms is already using an AI platform to assist its attorneys. AI will also substitute for, or supplement, lawyers providing elementary legal advice. Want to know the basics of deferred …The first type of arrest of judgment is one that vacates a judgment in response to a “fatal flaw on the face of the record”—usually a defect in the indictment. See, e.g., State v. Harris, 219 N.C. App. 590 (2012). The effect of that sort of arrest of judgment is to vacate a conviction. See State v.If a person writes a check without sufficient funds in an associated account to cover it, the check will bounce, or be returned for insufficient funds. Each state has laws regulati...This post summarizes the published criminal opinions from the North Carolina Court of Appeals released on March 5, 2024. These summaries will be added to Smith’s Criminal Case Compendium, a free …Sep 22, 2021 · This session, the General Assembly amended the rules governing disclosure of recordings that depict death or serious bodily injury to require (1) that a court determine whether a recording be disclosed; and (2) that the court make such a determination within seven business days of the filing of a disclosure petition. The Supreme Court of North Carolina held in State v.Grady, ___ N.C. ___ (2019), that satellite-based monitoring (SBM) of sex offenders is unconstitutional as applied to any unsupervised person who was ordered to enroll in SBM solely because he or she is a recidivist.By unsupervised, the court meant a person not on probation, parole, or post …Open Carry and Reasonable Suspicion. Published for NC Criminal Law on May 15, 2023. A decade ago, I wrote a post about the circumstances under which police …the defendant named above unlawfully, willfully and feloniously with deceit and intent to defraud, did commit the infamous offense of obstruction of justice by knowingly …Jul 8, 2020 · James M. Markham. Published for NC Criminal Law on July 08, 2020. A new law provides a limited possibility of sentencing and post-conviction relief for certain defendants convicted of drug trafficking. The law, S.L. 2020-47, is called the North Carolina First Step Act. I wrote about it earlier in the year, here, when it was still under ... March 7, 2016 by Jeff Welty. The court of appeals recently decided State v. Ford, a case about the authentication of social media evidence. This is the first North Carolina appellate case to give careful consideration to the issue, and the opinion sets a relatively low bar for authentication. Because this type of evidence …Solicitation is asking someone else to commit a crime with the intention that the person solicited will perform the criminal act. It is its own crime and generally must be pled. An exception exists if the defendant is charged with accessory before the fact to a completed murder, a theory of liability discussed below.Mar 11, 2021 · The modern rule applies to businesses, organizations, and associations “of every kind,” and the covered records include any report, memorandum, or “data compilation, in any form.”. G.S. 8C-803 (6), Official Commentary. As explained more fully in the prior posts linked above, the exception generally applies as long as the records were ... The prosecutor offers the report as evidence. The defendant’s attorney objects, relying on North Carolina Rule of Evidence 803(8). That rule creates an exception to the hearsay rule for official records and reports, but it specifically excludes “in criminal cases matters observed by police officers and other law-enforcement personnel.”The new 48-hour law applies to defendants who were on pretrial release before October 1. New G.S. 15A-533 (h) is effective for offenses committed on or after October 1, 2023. This language means that the new 48-hour rule applies to all offenses committed on or after that date, regardless of when the defendant …Greer, 173 N.C. 758 (1917), a probationer was revoked based on a new criminal offense even though he was found not guilty at his criminal trial on the charge. The Greer court reasoned that the jury verdict was not binding on the local judge who activated the suspended sentence, because he exercised his independent discretion based on the …A third decision, State v. Hurt, __ N.C. __ (June 27, 2013), applied Ortiz-Zape to a case involving substitute analysts in serology and DNA. 2. The State must lay a proper foundation for substitute analyst testimony. The Ortiz-Zape court found that the prosecutor had laid a proper foundation for Ray’s testimony.Last month, the North Carolina General Assembly passed S.L. 2023-14 (S 20) which largely covers changes to abortion laws. Within this bill is also a newly defined “misdemeanor crime of domestic violence,” which takes effect for offenses committed on or after December 1, 2023. This post discusses the utility of the new offense and the ...Published for NC Criminal Law on November 01, 2022. It has not been long since my last cannabis update, but there are some interesting new developments to report, most notably on drug identification and marijuana. Read on for the details. The New (New) G.S. 90-94. Roles / Topics. The Criminal Law in North Carolina microsite is a collection of educational resources created and compiled by criminal law faculty at the School of Government to assist people who work in the North Carolina criminal courts and criminal justice system. Please feel free to contact us with questions in our areas of expertise or ...
A Warning Shot about Self-Defense. John Rubin. Published for NC Criminal Law on September 07, 2016. Suppose John is facing a deadly assault and fears that he will be killed or suffer great bodily harm. John has a firearm but, rather than shoot his assailant, he fires a warning shot.. Vincennes in craigslist
Published for NC Criminal Law on November 01, 2022. It has not been long since my last cannabis update, but there are some interesting new developments to report, most notably on drug identification and marijuana. Read on for the details. The New (New) G.S. 90-94.Facebook might be great for staying in touch with friends and family, but one of the biggest and unforeseen benefits of this social network surfaced as law enforcement agencies sta...Hardee, 723 F.3d 488 (4th Cir. 2013) (summarizing, in a federal habeas case, that “expert testimony on eyewitness identifications is not automatically admitted; when allowed, its admissibility is generally at the court’s discretion, both under federal and North Carolina law”); State v. Cotton, 99 N.C. App. 615 (1990) (the defendant in a ...Seelye, 815 F.2d 48, 51 (8th Cir. 1987) (stop was justified where the officer “confirmed that [the defendant’s] appearance closely matched the description” of the suspect). I often get asked about pretextual stops. The rule is that if a stop is supported by reasonable suspicion, the officer’s subjective motivation is irrelevant, Whren v.In an unpublished case involving a charge of going armed to the terror of the people, the North Carolina Court of Appeals found this element satisfied where the …Criminal Negligence. Published for NC Criminal Law on November 18, 2010. Criminal negligence (sometimes called culpable negligence) means recklessness or carelessness that shows a thoughtless disregard of consequences or a heedless indifference to the safety and rights of others. State v. Jones, 353 N.C. …Each year the School of Government summarizes legislation enacted by the North Carolina General Assembly affecting criminal law and procedure and motor vehicle laws. We also explore selected legislation in more depth on this blog.Oct 4, 2022 · North Carolina Criminal Pattern Jury Instruction (N.C.P.I.) 208.61 (Feb. 2005) provides that strangulation involves “a form of asphyxia characterized by closure of the blood vessels and/or air passages of the neck as a result of external pressure on the neck brought about by hanging, ligature, or the manual assertion of pressure.”. Sep 13, 2023 · The new 48-hour law applies to defendants who were on pretrial release before October 1. New G.S. 15A-533 (h) is effective for offenses committed on or after October 1, 2023. This language means that the new 48-hour rule applies to all offenses committed on or after that date, regardless of when the defendant was released on pretrial release. Defending Death by Distribution Cases. Phil Dixon Jr. Published for NC Criminal Law on January 21, 2020. Shea blogged about the new crimes of death by distribution and aggravated death by distribution in G.S. 14-18.4, here. These crimes hit the books this past December, and 2020 will likely see the first …Shea Riggsbee Denning. Published for NC Criminal Law on March 02, 2023. The Sixth Amendment provides that a person accused of a crime “shall enjoy a public trial.”. This right is grounded in the belief that judges and prosecutors will carry out their duties more responsibly in open court than they might in secret proceedings as well as the ...A Warning Shot about Self-Defense. John Rubin. Published for NC Criminal Law on September 07, 2016. Suppose John is facing a deadly assault and fears that he will be killed or suffer great bodily harm. John has a firearm but, rather than shoot his assailant, he fires a warning shot.News Roundup. A bill to “recriminalize” the possession of certain dangerous drugs is moving forward in Oregon. Oregon became the first state to decriminalize the …No. In State v. Lee, 232 N.C. App. 256 (2014), the defendant’s probation was revoked based on a “commit no new criminal offense” violation that was alleged like this: The defendant argued that the court did not have jurisdiction to act on the violation because it was framed solely around the pending charges.U.S. campaign finance law places limits on how much money political donors can give per election cycle; also, it is illegal for donors to skirt these limits by making additional do....