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July 18, 2011
New legislation this year creates a handful of new homicide and assault crimes protecting unborn children. S.L. 2011-60. The term “unborn child” “means a member of the species homo sapiens, […]
READ POST "New Crimes Protecting Unborn Children (July 18, 2011)"June 27, 2011
Grossly aggravating or just grossly confusing? When is a DWI defendant driving while revoked for an impaired driving revocation? Several earlier posts (here , here and here) have discussed sentencing […]
READ POST "DWLR as a Grossly Aggravating Factor for DWI Sentencing (June 27, 2011)"June 9, 2011
If I were to compile guidance for law enforcement officers and judges on “what not to do” in an impaired driving case, I’d be sure to include excerpts from two […]
READ POST "What Not to Do in an Impaired Driving Case (Post I) (June 9, 2011)"June 6, 2011
The last batch of opinions from the court of appeals included a really interesting constructive possession case.The facts of State v. Slaughter, __ N.C. App. __ (2011), are as follows. […]
READ POST "Interesting Constructive Possession Case (June 6, 2011)"June 2, 2011
Reckless driving is among the most commonly charged, and most broadly defined, motor vehicle offenses. Three types of reckless driving, all Class 2 misdemeanors, are defined in G.S. 20-140. First, […]
READ POST "Reckless Driving (June 2, 2011)"May 24, 2011
[Editor’s note: Regular readers will notice two changes to the blog today. One, for the first time, my posts have a byline. Two, a photograph of the author now appears […]
READ POST "False Names and Identity Theft (May 24, 2011)"May 16, 2011
One recurring question I get asked is this: If the Defendant engages in two sex acts in one continuous transaction, how many assaults have occurred? When the acts are vaginal […]
READ POST "Sexual Assaults: One Conviction or Two? (May 16, 2011)"April 26, 2011
[Editor’s note: Sorry that there was no post yesterday. I was travelling and didn’t have reliable internet access. We’re back on track today.] The misdemeanor offenses of driving after notification […]
READ POST "Driving After Notification or Failure to Appear (April 26, 2011)"April 12, 2011
Twice each year, the School of Government welcomes newly-appointed magistrates for two weeks of training. Part of the curriculum involves learning the elements of common crimes. When I teach the […]
READ POST "Armed Robbery and Representations about Weapons (April 12, 2011)"April 11, 2011
The legislature has passed, and the Governor has signed, new S.L. 2011-12, which creates three new Schedule I drugs, defines certain synthetic cannabinoids as Schedule VI drugs, and makes several […]
READ POST "New Drug Crimes (April 11, 2011)"