North Carolina Criminal Law

How should a law enforcement officer conduct a lineup when the suspect has a facial tattoo? More than one in five American adults now has a tattoo according to a […]

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The murky law of contempt — particularly the distinction between civil and criminal contempt — got even more confusing last month with the Court of Appeals’ decision in Tyll v. […]

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Mumford & Sons has a song called Hopeless Wanderer. When it comes to substitute analysts and the confrontation clause, that song title sums me up, and maybe you as well. […]

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Courts across the country continue to wrestle with whether and how the Supreme Court’s opinion in Missouri v. McNeely, 569 U.S. ___, 133 S. Ct.  1552 (2013), affects the lawfulness […]

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The state supreme court heard oral argument yesterday in two cases concerning the Racial Justice Act. In the first case, Superior Court Judge Gregory Weeks struck down the death sentence […]

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Most folks who are involved in appellate litigation and post-conviction motions know about G.S. 15A-1335. For those who don’t, it is a N.C. statute providing that when a conviction or […]

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Two elected district attorneys resigned mid-term yesterday: Colon Willoughby in Wake County (to move into private practice), and Jerry Wilson in Watauga and four other mountain counties (citing medical reasons). […]

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We’re holding a seminar on professionalism and ethics for judges at the School of Government next week so I’ve got judicial canons on my mind.  Below are five ethical rules […]

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Last session, the General Assembly added a new subsection to the principal pretrial release statute, G.S. 15A-534. The new provision took effect on December 1, 2013, and has proven to […]

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Last year, I wrote a paper about North Carolina’s habitual felon, violent habitual felon, and habitual breaking and entering laws. Around the time the paper came out, the General Assembly […]

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