A North Carolina man, Floyd Ray Roseberry, caused the evacuation of buildings near the United States Capitol yesterday after parking his truck on the sidewalk outside the Library of Congress and claiming that it was rigged with explosives capable of destroying two city blocks. While livestreaming to Facebook, Roseberry reportedly said that he would surrender peacefully if President Joe Biden stepped down from office. The incident prompted a massive law enforcement and emergency personnel response, and Roseberry eventually surrendered without incident. The story was developing at the time of writing. Keep reading for more news.
Christopher Tyner
Case Summaries: N.C. Court of Appeals (August 17, 2021)
This post summarizes published criminal decisions from the North Carolina Court of Appeals released on August 17, 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
WCNC reports that the Mecklenburg County Courthouse was closed all of this week because of a covid outbreak among employees. All sessions of district and superior court were rescheduled. The WCNC story says that at least 29 employees were in quarantine because of potential exposure to the virus. Keep reading for more news.
News Roundup
As the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports, Robert Aaron Long pleaded guilty this week to four counts of murder arising from a series of shootings he committed earlier this year in the Atlanta area. The plea deal covered four killings in Woodstock, Georgia, which is north of Atlanta, and spared Long from the potential of being sentenced to death at a capital trial. Long is accused of killing eight people, many of them Asian women, and additional murder charges still are pending against him in Fulton County, where part of the shooting rampage took place. Keep reading for more news.
News Roundup
As NPR reports, a coalition of state attorneys general announced this week that they had reached a $26 billion settlement agreement with drug distributors and Johnson & Johnson for their role in the opioid epidemic. The agreement, which still requires approval from state and local governments, would resolve various lawsuits brought against Johnson & Johnson, AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health, and McKesson that allege that the companies turned a blind eye to orders for large quantities of opioid drugs in the interest of making money. Keep reading for more news.
News Roundup
WRAL reports that the family of Andrew Brown Jr. has filed a federal wrongful death lawsuit against Pasquotank County Sheriff Tommy Wooten, Dare County Sheriff Doug Doughtie, and several deputies. Brown was killed in April as he attempted to flee in his car from deputies who were executing search warrants for his home and vehicle. In May, District Attorney Andrew Womble determined that officers were justified in using deadly force against Brown because he used his vehicle as a weapon while trying to escape. Brown’s family is seeking $31 million in compensatory and punitive damages.
News Roundup
WRAL reports that the owner of a venomous zebra cobra has been charged with dozens of misdemeanors after the snake, which is capable of spitting blinding venom with tremendous accuracy, was roaming loose in a north Raleigh neighborhood in recent weeks. Keep reading for more on this story and other news.
News Roundup
Bill Cosby was released from prison this week after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that his 2018 prosecution for sexually assaulting Andrea Constand violated due process. In 2018, Cosby was convicted by a jury and received a prison sentence of three to ten years. Keep reading for more on this story and other news.
News Roundup
On Wednesday, President Joe Biden announced a “comprehensive strategy to combat gun violence and other violent crime” ahead of the summer months when major cities often experience increased gun violence. Among other things, the administration’s press release says that local governments will be able to use American Rescue Plan funds to hire law enforcement officers, prosecute gun traffickers, and invest in new law enforcement equipment and technology. Keep reading for more on this story and other news.