Recent blog posts

Shea covered the recent escapes of two inmates from the Vance County Detention Center. On the lam since June 3, the pair were apprehended without incident on Tuesday this week […]

Darcy lives in North Carolina. Upon learning about an upcoming music festival in California, Darcy creates realistic, high-quality digital replicas of the festival’s VIP wristband passes and PDF tickets. She […]

A defendant who claims self-defense may offer evidence of the victim’s prior violent conduct, if known to the defendant, to demonstrate the reasonableness of the defendant’s fear of the victim. […]

This post summarizes the published criminal opinions from the North Carolina Court of Appeals released on June 3, 2026. (1) The State lacks authority to appeal a district court’s verbal […]

By now, most people in the North Carolina indigent defense community know that Mary Pollard, the executive director of the North Carolina Office of Indigent Defense Services (IDS), has decided […]

The week began with the report of the capture in Mount Airy of an armed fugitive wanted for murder. Michael Puckett is accused of killing one Virginia sheriff’s deputy and […]

Where the trial court did not afford defense counsel an opportunity to rebut the prosecutor’s proffered race-neutral reasons for striking black jurors, thereby failing to conduct the third step of […]

This post is a follow-up from last month’s post Initial Appearances, Implied Consent Offenses, and Offenses Involving Impaired Driving Part 1. In Part 1, we discussed the differences and overlaps […]

Probation records are privileged. That protection stems from an old statute, G.S. 15-207, which was enacted in 1937—the same year the original North Carolina Probation Commission was established. See N.C. […]

Last week I participated in a CLE event sponsored by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Tribal Court. It was a great event and an opportunity for me to learn […]