Jeff Welty, Author at North Carolina Criminal Law

Searching Probationers

February 11, 2009 Jeff Welty

The News and Observer ran a story today about a piece of proposed legislation that would allow any law enforcement officer to search any probationer, for any reason, at any time. The story is here, and the proposed legislation itself is available here. In essence, it would remove G.S. 15A-1343(b1)(7), which gives judges the option … Read more

“Obtaining” Property for Another

February 10, 2009 Jeff Welty

Valentine’s day is coming up, which got me thinking about a fact pattern I ran into a while back. Dan wants to get his girlfriend, Ann, a present — say, roses — but doesn’t want to pay for the gift. So Dan tells Victor, a florist, that he’ll pay Victor in a few days if … Read more

Sexting

February 6, 2009 Jeff Welty

The News and Observer has had several interesting criminal justice articles over the past few days — including one about the great potted plant caper, available here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2932/story/1394388.html — but the one that struck me the most was this one, about “sexting”: http://www.newsobserver.com/1595/story/1393616.html. Apparently, posting naked pictures of oneself on Myspace is soooooooo 2008. Kids who are really … Read more

Upcoming Training Opportunities

December 31, 2015February 5, 2009 Jeff Welty

Both prosecutors and defense lawyers have some training opportunities coming up here at the School of Government. Since this blog is intended to be of interest to both sides (as well as judges, law enforcement, and others), I thought I’d plug all of the training opportunities. A program for (relatively) new prosecutors will run from … Read more

Sex Offenders, Online Identifiers, and the First Amendment

February 9, 2009February 3, 2009 Jeff Welty

A federal judge in Utah recently invalidated the part of Utah’s sex offender registry that requires each registrant to provide his “[i]nternet identifiers and . . . addresses . . . [and] the name . . . of all websites on which the sex offender is registered.” Doe v. Shurtleff, 2008 WL 4427594 (D. Ut. Sept. 15, 2008) (quoting Utah Code Ann. § 77-27-21.5(12)(i) & (j)). This raises some questions about the constitutionality of North Carolina’s new requirement that sex offenders provide “[a]ny online identifier that the person uses or intends to use.” G.S. 14-208.7(b)(7) (eff. May 1, 2009). . .

Herring, Again

February 2, 2009 Jeff Welty

Several days ago, I wrote a post about Herring v. United States and whether it is merely the first step in a significant narrowing of the exclusionary rule. It’s an important issue — so important, in fact, that the New York Times ran a story on it Friday. The story is an interesting read, tracing … Read more

Searching Cell Phones Incident to Arrest

January 30, 2009January 29, 2009 Jeff Welty

Nearly 90% of American adults have cell phones. When one of those cell phone users is arrested, may police search their mobile phone incident to arrest? The Fourth Circuit recently answered that question in the affimative. See United States v. Murphy, __ F.3d __, 2009 WL 94268 (4th Cir. Jan. 15, 2009). The defendant in … Read more

Crimmigration Resource

October 5, 2017January 27, 2009 Jeff Welty

With almost 7% of North Carolina’s population now being foreign-born, it has become increasingly important for criminal lawyers on both sides to understand the interplay between criminal law and immigration law. The relationship between the two bodies of law is most important in cases involving immigrant defendants who are neither citizens (citizens, generally, cannot lose … Read more

Herring v. United States and the Future of the Exclusionary Rule

January 30, 2009January 26, 2009 Jeff Welty

Earlier this month, the United States Supreme Court decided Herring v. United States, no. 07-513, a case that raises interesting questions about the future of the exclusionary rule. An officer learned that the eventual defendant, Herring, was at the impound lot, retrieving items from his impounded truck. The officer was apparently familiar with Herring, and … Read more

Use of Initials in Charging Documents

October 12, 2017January 23, 2009 Jeff Welty

Third Update: The use of initials appears to be a floor below which a criminal pleading may not fall. In In re M.S., the court of appeals held that a juvenile petition that identified a sex offense victim only as “a child” was inadequate. Second Update: The Court of Appeals has approved the use of … Read more