Under G.S. 15A-1347(b), if a defendant waives a probation revocation hearing in district court, he or she may not appeal the revocation or imposition of a split sentence to superior court for a de novo violation hearing. That law was enacted in 2013 as part of legislation designed to streamline the superior court caseload, focusing it on contested cases and those implicating a defendant’s right to a jury trial. S.L. 2013-385. I wrote a post about that law in 2014, here, wondering about some of the then-new law’s wrinkles. The Court of Appeals considered its first case under G.S. 15A-1347(b) last year in State v. Flanagan, 2021-NCCOA-456, 279 N.C. App. 228 (2021).
Jamie Markham
2021 Sentencing Commission Statistical Report Available
Today’s post takes a look at the latest Structured Sentencing Statistical Report from the North Carolina Sentencing and Policy Advisory Commission.
Evaluating Substantial Similarity of Prior Out-of-State Convictions after State v. Graham
State v. Graham, 2021-NCSC-125, 379 N.C. 75 (2021), sheds new light on what it means for an out-of-state prior conviction to be “substantially similar” to a North Carolina crime for prior record level purposes.
Habitualized Sex Crimes, Take Two
About seven years ago, I wrote this post about habitualized sex crimes. The issue I explored there was how to sentence a person convicted of a Class F through I sex crime when he or she has also attained habitual felon status. The question is whether the defendant, who is now sentenced as a Class B1 through E felon due to the habitual felon law’s four-class enhancement, is subject to the elevated maximum sentence applicable to Class B1 through E sex offenders under G.S. 15A-1340.17(f). When I wrote that post there was no appellate case answering the question. There is now.
Case Summaries – Court of Appeals of North Carolina (April 19, 2022)
This post summarizes published criminal decisions from the Court of Appeals of North Carolina released on April 19, 2022. These summaries will be added to Smith’s Criminal Case Compendium, a free and searchable database of case summaries from 2008 to present. There was sufficient circumstantial evidence that the defendant was the driver of a moped. … Read more
Case Summaries – Supreme Court of North Carolina (March 11, 2022)
This post summarizes criminal decisions released by the Supreme Court of North Carolina on March 11, 2022.
Substance Use Disorder Treatment During a Pandemic: A Conversation with TROSA
Today’s post is a conversation between Jamie Markham (JM) and Kristen Rosselli (KR), Chief Operating Officer at TROSA. We’ve been getting a lot of questions about how TROSA and other substance use disorder treatment programs are operating during the pandemic, so I thought I would go straight to the source to learn more. This post should not be viewed as an endorsement of TROSA in particular—it just happens to be one of the largest programs in the state, and the one about which I get the most inquiries. As always, my goal is to share up-to-date information so you can make informed decisions for the defendants, clients, and cases that come before you.
Case Summaries: N.C. Court of Appeals (Feb. 1, 2022)
This post summarizes criminal decisions from the North Carolina Court of Appeals published on February 1, 2022. 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.
Case Summaries: N.C. Court of Appeals (Nov. 2, 2021)
This post summarizes published criminal decisions from the North Carolina Court of Appeals published on November 2, 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.
Revisions to North Carolina’s Satellite-Based Monitoring Law
After years of litigation concerning the constitutionality of satellite-based monitoring (SBM) of sex offenders, the General Assembly has amended the law pretty dramatically. Today’s post describes those changes.