A UNC School of Government Blog
I get asked a lot of questions about motions for appropriate relief (MARs). One common scenario is: Defendant was convicted of Crime X years ago and the sentence has been fully served. Defendant now faces a habitual charge or status based on the prior conviction or maybe the prior conviction has elevated Defendant’s sentence for … Read more
Since the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Crawford v. Washington, interest has been growing in the use of two-way video testimony as a method to satisfy the confrontation clause when a witness cannot be present at trial. As readers of this blog know, Crawford held that under the sixth amendment’s confrontation clause, testimonial statements by … Read more
The court of appeals issued three opinions on Tuesday involving satellite-based monitoring (SBM) of sex offenders. In all three, offenders challenged trial court determinations that they had to enroll in SBM. As a threshold matter in each case the court of appeals considered whether the offender’s oral notice of appeal of the SBM determination was … Read more
Suppose that both the local police and the federal Drug Enforcement Administration suspect that Derek is selling drugs. The police are a step ahead, and they arrest Derek and charge him before the federal authorities are able to do so. Derek’s lawyer asks the prosecutor to provide discovery and argues that because the DEA was … Read more
The court of appeals in State v. Simmons, ___ N.C. App. ___ (July 20, 2010), decided this week, awarded a new trial to a defendant convicted of impaired driving, finding that the prosecutor made improper and prejudicial remarks in his closing argument. The court found a substantial likelihood that these comments led the jury to … Read more
In State v. Harbison, 315 N.C. 175 (1985), the North Carolina Supreme Court held that when defense counsel admits the defendant’s guilt to the jury without the defendant’s consent per se ineffective assistance of counsel occurs. The Harbison Court reasoned that when counsel admits guilt without consent, it is essentially the same as entering a … Read more
Previously, Jeff and I posted about the post-Melendez-Diaz decisions by the N.C. Court of Appeals in the Brennan and Brewington substitute analyst cases (those posts are available here, here, and here). In Brennan, the court concluded that testimony of a substitute analyst identifying a substance as cocaine base violated the defendant’s confrontation clause rights. Similarly, … Read more
I was catching up on the Fourth Circuit’s recent opinions this weekend when I came across United States v. Luck. It raises some interesting issues that are not specific to federal court, so I thought I’d put together a post about it. The defendant in Luck was charged with drug and gun crimes. The government’s … Read more
I regularly am asked questions about criminal case calendaring. There are relatively detailed statutory provisions regarding the calendaring of superior court cases. As to district court cases, however, the statutes are much less clear, and the practice around the state appears to vary, with prosecutors generally playing the leading role, but judges, defense lawyers, clerks, … Read more
I’m on vacation this week, so my blogging will be a little lighter fare than usual. Today, I thought I’d call attention to this article in the FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin. It is an excellent explanation of Maryland v. Shatzer, the Miranda decision about which I blogged here. I am still getting quite a few … Read more