News Roundup

Several newsworthy items have cropped up lately, so I wanted to take a day to highlight some of them.  First and foremost, the News and Observer has a troubling front-page story, here, about the SBI’s investigation into allegedly fraudulent dismissals of DWI cases in Johnston County.  Not the sort of publicity the court system needs. … Read more

Miller and Constructive Possession

Last week, the North Carolina Supreme Court decided State v. Miller, an interesting and very, very close constructive possession case. Prosecutors, defense lawyers, and judges should all be aware of it. The short version of the facts is as follows: Winston-Salem police obtained a search warrant for a house based on suspicion of drug activity. … Read more

Garcell and Jury Instructions on Multiple Counts

Update: I knew it.  One reader emailed me to say that our appellate courts have approved truncated jury instructions for at least thirty years, and referred me to State v. Gainey, 355 N.C. 72 (2002), which collects some cases and states that the court “has discouraged needless repetition” during jury instructions. Original Post: One of … Read more

Blog Confidential

One of the services that we offer here at the School of Government is what I like to call the “hotline.” When you have a question about the law, you can call us or email us and we’ll try to answer it. Although different faculty members treat those calls slightly differently, most of us treat … Read more

Encrypted Computer Files and the Fifth Amendment

Can the state compel a suspect to provide access to encrypted files on the suspect’s computer?  For example, if the police suspect that I’m running a Ponzi scheme, but I’ve got all my business records encrypted, can the state require me to produce an unencrypted version of the records?  It’s an important question because more … Read more

Knowing and Voluntary Miranda Waivers

The Sixth Circuit, sitting en banc, recently decided a very interesting Miranda case. Garner v. Mitchell, available here, is a capital case.  The defendant stole a woman’s purse, took a taxi to her house, robbed it, and set it on fire to conceal his fingerprints, killing five of the six children who were sleeping in … Read more

Madoff and Victims’ Rights

There’s lots of news these days about the Bernie Madoff case.  Apparently, he’s going to plead guilty today, without a plea agreement, exposing himself to a virtually certain life sentence.  I wonder why he’s doing that.  An interesting article, available here, tries to figure out the angle, but comes up empty.  Could he have suddenly … Read more