News Roundup

The Racial Justice Act is nearing repeal. Both chambers of the General Assembly have passed S 306, an omnibus capital punishment bill that does away with the Act. Governor McCrory has previously criticized the Act, so a veto is not likely. The News and Observer editorializes against the repeal here. Assuming that the Act is … Read more

Advising a Defendant of the Maximum Possible Sentence During a Habitual Felon Plea

When a defendant pleads guilty, the judge is required to “inform[] him of the maximum possible sentence” associated with his offense. G.S. 15A-1022(a)(6). When a defendant pleads guilty to being a habitual felon, he must be informed of the maximum sentence he faces as a habitual felon, because the enhanced sentence is a “direct consequence … Read more

News Roundup

The top story of the week may be the impending repeal of the Racial Justice Act. On Wednesday, the House voted 77-39, mostly along party lines, in favor of the repeal bill. The Senate previously approved a slightly different version of the bill. It appears that the Senate plans to approve the House version next … Read more

Supreme Court Upholds Taking DNA Upon Arrest

Yesterday the Supreme Court decided a case that one Justice called “perhaps the most important criminal procedure case that this Court has heard in decades.” A bare majority of the Court ruled that the police may take DNA from those arrested for, but not yet convicted of, “serious offense[s].” The case resolves a deep split … Read more

News Roundup

There were so many important stories in North Carolina this week that I couldn’t pick just one as the headliner. Without further ado: Racial Justice Act Nears Repeal. A House committee approved S 306 this week. The bill would, among other things, repeal the Racial Justice Act. A vote in the full House is expected … Read more

Police Use of New Recording Technologies

There’s been quite a buzz lately about Google Glass, a “wearable computer” that looks like a pair of eyeglasses but that uses the lenses as transparent screens to display information to the user. (For example, the user might have CNN headlines constantly scrolling on the edge of the screen, or might have the glasses show … Read more

News Roundup

The state Senate passed its budget this week. It’s different from the Governor’s budget and also from the House budget, so nothing is final and there’s plenty of negotiation left to be done. But the Senate budget has quite a few noteworthy features. It would eliminate Prisoner Legal Services, instead giving inmates access to computer … Read more

The DSM V

The American Psychiatric Association is about to release the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, commonly abbreviated DSM-V and pronounced “DSM five.” This is important to criminal lawyers because mental health issues are litigated in so many criminal cases, and the DSM is the generally accepted authority on mental health diagnoses. By … Read more

News Roundup

There was lots of news this week about judges new and old, so let’s start with that, then move on to the rest: Jeff Hunt, until now the elected district attorney for district 29B (Henderson, Polke, and Transylvania counties), has been named a special superior court judge. Assistant district attorney Doug Pearson will be the … Read more