News Roundup (Sort of)
There have been several interesting criminal law new stories this week. I want to focus mainly on one with a local connection, but I’ll note briefly this New York Times […]
January 12, 2010
Spisak
Consider the following excerpts from a penalty phase closing argument in a capital case: “[D]on’t look to [the defendant] for sympathy, because he demands none. And, ladies and gentlemen, when […]
January 11, 2010
State v. Mumford: A New Exception Affording Relief from Inconsistent Verdicts
Jeff Welty blogged here about inconsistent verdicts. As he explained, a defendant generally isn’t entitled to relief from inconsistent verdicts, which may result from jury irrationality, a jury’s desire to […]
January 6, 2010
North Carolina’s Notice and Demand Statute for Chemical Analyses in Drug Cases Is Constitutional
In Melendez-Diaz v. Massachussetts, the United States Supreme Court held that forensic laboratory reports—such as those identifying a substance as a controlled substance—are testimonial and subject to the new Crawford […]
January 5, 2010
What to Do When a Defendant Is Charged under the Wrong Name
Sometimes, a defendant is charged under the wrong name. This usually happens when the defendant gives a false name upon arrest. When this is discovered, what should be done? There […]
December 17, 2009
Drug Testing of Probationers as a Warrantless Search
The principal probation reform bill (S.L. 2009-372 [S 920], summarized here) went into effect on December 1. Since then, I’ve received a number of questions about it, many of them […]
December 16, 2009
Dealing with Disappearing DWI Defendants
I’ve had several questions recently about how to handle cases in which the defendant was charged with DWI, failed to appear, remained absent for several years, then reappeared. Often, the […]
December 10, 2009
Nothing Much Shocking about Shockley
The court of appeals ruled this week in State v. Shockley that alcohol concentration readings from two of four attempted breath samples collected within 18 minutes of one another met […]
December 8, 2009
What to Do When Dorothea Dix Lights the “No Vacancy” Sign
When one side or the other questions a defendant’s capacity to proceed, the judge may order a competency evaluation. The evaluation is often done locally on an outpatient basis, but […]
November 20, 2009
District Court is in Session . . . But for How Long?
Editor’s note: This post has been revised slightly in response to a helpful comment from a reader. A district court session usually lasts one day, so many court actors have […]
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