April 30, 2014
Yesterday, the Supreme Court heard two cases regarding whether law enforcement officers may search a suspect’s cell phone incident to arrest. Generally, the answer to that question in North Carolina […]
April 29, 2014
Law enforcement officers may stop a vehicle when they have reasonable suspicion to believe that the driver has violated a traffic law. See State v. Styles, 362 N.C. 412, 415, […]
April 28, 2014
A probationer is entitled to a hearing on an alleged probation violation, unless the hearing is waived. G.S. 15A-1345(e). What does it mean to waive a probation violation hearing? As […]
April 25, 2014
Another North Carolina case is headed to the Supreme Court. The latest grant of certiorari is in Heien v. North Carolina, the burned-out brake light case in which the state […]
April 24, 2014
Courts across the country continue to wrestle with whether and how the Supreme Court’s opinion in Missouri v. McNeely, 569 U.S. ___, 133 S. Ct. 1552 (2013), affects the lawfulness […]
April 23, 2014
The Supreme Court just decided a case that significantly changes North Carolina law regarding whether a traffic stop can be made based on an anonymous 911 call alleging bad driving. […]
April 22, 2014
I was on spring break last week, which meant I had lots of time for uninterrupted reading while my kids entertained themselves at the pool. Okay, maybe not. Despite being […]
April 21, 2014
G.S. 15A-1335 provides that when a conviction or sentence imposed in superior court has been set aside on direct review or collateral attack, the court may not impose a new […]
April 17, 2014
I’ve been enjoying WRAL’s website lately. The News and Observer is putting more content behind a paywall, and WRAL has had a series of interesting criminal justice stories. The most […]
April 16, 2014
Not showing up for court is, generally speaking, bad trial strategy. In criminal court, such behavior can result in such unpleasantness as entry of an order for arrest and the […]