As the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports, jury selection began this week in the joint trial of three men charged with murdering Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia in February of last year. The report says that jury selection is proceeding slowly because many jurors have said that they believe the defendants are guilty after seeing cellphone video of the incident that was widely publicized after the killing. Keep reading for more on this story and other news.
Christopher Tyner
News Roundup
ABC 11 recently took a trip to observe law enforcement training at Robeson County Community College where officers from various local agencies used high tech simulation equipment to practice de-escalation techniques and experience the high stress situations, such as those involving an active shooter, where use of force decisions must be made. The report notes that the North Carolina Justice Academy launched a new de-escalation training model earlier this year and that there is widespread interest in enhancing law enforcement training across the state. Keep reading for more news.
News Roundup
The Winston-Salem Journal reports that seven alumni of the UNC School of the Arts have filed a lawsuit in Forsyth Superior Court alleging that they were victims of sexual abuse perpetrated by faculty members in the 1980s and that school administrators did not intervene after the students reported the abuse. The plaintiffs are asking that the suit proceed as a class-action and say that several hundred former students could join. Keep reading for more news.
News Roundup
The Associated Press reported Thursday that four North Carolina prisons and a drug addiction treatment facility are being renamed because of historical connections to racism or slavery. NC DPS has a press release about the name changes here. The new names take effect on Monday. Keep reading for more on this story and other news.
News Roundup
USA Today reports that federal indictments for financial crimes were issued this week against Brian Laundrie, who also has been named as a person of interest in the killing of his fiancé Gabby Petito. Petito’s disappearance, and the eventual discovery of her remains at a campground near Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming, became a major national news story when Laundrie returned to Florida without Petito after the pair embarked on a cross country road trip. Laundrie did not explain Petito’s disappearance and has himself been missing for more than a week. Keep reading for more news.
Case Summaries: N.C. Court of Appeals (Sept. 21, 2021)
This post summarizes published criminal decisions from the North Carolina Court of Appeals released on September 21, 2021. As always, these summaries will be added to Smith’s Criminal Case Compendium, a free and searchable database of case summaries from 2008 to present.
News Roundup
Chapel Hill police announced yesterday afternoon that Miguel Enrique Salguero-Olivares was arrested on Thursday morning and charged with first-degree murder in the death of Faith Hedgepeth, a UNC student who was killed in September 2012 in her off-campus apartment. Keep reading for more on this story and other news.
News Roundup
WLOS reports that Buncombe County District Attorney Todd Williams announced yesterday that his office will not initiate criminal charges in the death of Jacob Biddix, who died at Mission Hospital after being transported there when he was found in distress in his cell at the Buncombe County Detention Center. Keep reading for more on this story and other news.
News Roundup
Tragedy struck at Mount Tabor High School this week where a student, William Chavis Raynard Miller, Jr., was shot and killed, apparently by another student. As the Winston-Salem Journal reports, hundreds of people attended a vigil for Miller yesterday at Mount Tabor United Methodist Church. Keep reading for more on this story and other news.
News Roundup
As the North State Journal reports, the General Assembly recently passed a bill that repeals North Carolina’s pistol purchase permit law. Opinions on the bill are divided and it remains to be seen whether Governor Cooper will sign it into law. Keep reading for more on this story and other news.