A UNC School of Government Blog
Jeff Welty 
As a runner and a criminal lawyer, I found this story irresistable. The short version is that the police in Boulder, Colorado decided to stamp out the Naked Pumpkin Run, a Halloween tradition that involves 150 men and women wearing nothing but Jack-o-Lanterns on their heads running four blocks through downtown Boulder. I don’t know … Read more
Even leaving aside the saga at the Board of Elections, there have been too many interesting news stories lately to ignore. 1. The News and Observe has this story about inmates seeking release in connection with the Bowden case. (You can read previous posts about Bowden here and here.) 2. The paper’s also running a … Read more
I noted yesterday that a law enforcement officer conducting a traffic stop may order the driver and any passengers out of the vehicle. It’s also reasonably clear that the officer can order the vehicle’s occupants to remain in the vehicle. Robert L. Farb, Arrest, Search, and Investigation in North Carolina 30 & n.160 (collecting cases). … Read more
As one eminent Fourth Amendment scholar has observed, “[i]n recent years more Fourth Amendment battles have been fought about police activities incident to . . . what the courts call a ‘routine traffic stop’ than in any other context.” 4 Wayne R. LaFave, Search and Seizure § 9.3 (4th ed. 2004). Because so many criminal … Read more
I’ll get to the topic of today’s post in just a moment, but first I wanted to note what I found to be a fascinating little tidbit about the Willingham case, which I’ve previously addressed here and here. It has to do with Willingham’s final words, and I promise that if you have the slightest … Read more
The criminal-law-related legal news has been coming fast and furious over the past week or so. 1. The fallout from the Bowden case continues. The case, discussed here, held that a life sentence imposed during a several-year window in the 1970s meant 80 years, subject to further reduction through good time credits. Later this month, … Read more
I was recently asked whether one spouse can properly be charged with larceny for stealing joint property from the other spouse. Apparently, this question comes up frequently with separated spouses. For example, assume that Harry and Sally are separated. Sally lives at the house they formerly shared, and Harry lives in an apartment nearby. If … Read more
My colleague Shea Denning, a frequent contributor to this blog in the area of motor vehicle law, has put together the ultimate authority on all things related to State v. Knoll, 322 N.C. 535 (1988). Her paper is a must-read for officers, magistrates, jailers, and lawyers on both sides of DWI cases. It discusses Knoll … Read more
by School of Government faculty member Michael Crowell In the last couple of years North Carolina has seen several high profile cases in which the sealing of a search warrant became an issue. One was the investigation of the murder of Nancy Cooper in Cary, and it led to last week’s North Carolina Court of … Read more
Most readers of this blog know that hearsay evidence, meaning an out-of-court statement “offered in evidence to prove the truth of the matter asserted,” N.C. R. Evid. 801(c), is presumptively inadmissible. Sometimes the proponent of hearsay evidence can introduce the evidence under one of the exceptions in Rules 803 and 804. But equally often, the … Read more