A UNC School of Government Blog
Yesterday, the United States Supreme Court decided an important competency case. Let’s start the discussion with a quiz. Which of the following statements is true? a. A trial may be conducted even when a capital defendant is incompetent. b. Federal habeas proceedings may continue even when a petitioner/former capital defendant is incompetent. c. An execution … Read more
G.S. 14-196.3 prohibits “cyberstalking,” which the statute generally defines to mean using electronic communications to threaten, extort, make an abusive or embarrassing false statement about, or repeatedly harass another person. As Jessie noted in this prior post, cyberstalking has become a frequently charged offense. It can be committed by text message, email, Facebook, and other … Read more
I’ve previously written on this blog (here) about forfeiture of counsel. As I’ve noted, waiver is different from forfeiture. A waiver of counsel involves a knowing, voluntary, and intelligent relinquishment of the right to counsel. Forfeiture of the right to counsel involves an involuntary relinquishment of the right, typically because of misconduct. A recent case, … Read more
Following up on Jeff’s post yesterday about court costs and traffic citations, today’s post is about a trial judge’s authority to waive court costs. Under G.S. 7A-304, certain court costs “shall be assessed” in every criminal case where a defendant is convicted or enters a plea of guilty or nolo contendere. Under the pre-2011 version … Read more
Court costs support many different programs and purposes. The principal statute concerning court costs in criminal cases is G.S. 7A-304. (Under G.S. 15A-1118, these costs also apply to infraction cases.) G.S. 7A-304 establishes various court costs for the support of “courtroom(s) and related judicial facilities,” “courthouse phone systems,” “retirement and insurance benefits [for] . . … Read more
In 2012, the N.C. General Assembly enacted new case processing rules for motions for appropriate relief. See S.L. 2012-168. The new rules put the judges on a pretty tight leash in terms of ruling on these motions. Here’s a visual of how they operate: Footnotes: 1. G.S. 15A-1420(b1)(2); see also G.S. 15A-1413(d). 2. G.S. 15A-1420(b2)(1). … Read more
A couple of months ago, I blogged about State v. Herman, __ N.C. App. __ (2012), a case in which the court of appeals found a fatal defect in an indictment charging the defendant with being a sex offender unlawfully on a premises in violation of G.S. 14-208.18(a)(2). In a nutshell, the indictment in that … Read more
Under the Justice Reinvestment Act, a probation officer may, through delegated authority, impose a short period of jail confinement in response to a violation of a court-imposed probation condition. The officer may impose up to six days of confinement per month during any three separate months of a period of probation. The time must be … Read more
An Egyptian-American activist/columnist/media personality named Mona Eltahawy was recently arrested in New York while defacing a pro-Israel subway advertisement. The entire incident was captured on video and can be seen here. Over at the Volokh Conspiracy, Professor Orin Kerr focuses on Ms. Eltahawy’s demand that the arresting officer tell her what she was being arrested … Read more
In the recent Court of Appeals case, State v. Mason, the trial court erred by sending exhibits to the jury deliberation room over defense counsel’s objection. Although the State got lucky in that the error turned out not to be prejudicial, the decision signals that it’s a good time for a review of the relevant … Read more