North Carolina Criminal Law

In 2007, legislative action designed to stiffen penalties for drivers charged with speeding followed close on the heels of the “Speed Unlimited” series published in the News and Observer in […]

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In Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79 (1986), the Supreme Court held that prosecutors could not exercise peremptory challenges based on race. In Georgia v. McCollum, 505 U.S. 42 (1992), […]

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In 2007, the General Assembly enacted the Eyewitness Identification Reform Act, G.S. 15A-284.50 et seq.  The heart of the Act is G.S. 15A-284.52, which lays out rules for conducting lineups, […]

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Update: I spent some time over the weekend thinking about this case.  It seems to me that one likely upshot of Harbison is that some states that currently provide for […]

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Update: I knew it.  One reader emailed me to say that our appellate courts have approved truncated jury instructions for at least thirty years, and referred me to State v. […]

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The Court of Appeals released a number of opinions yesterday.  Bob Farb will undoubtedly release his inimitable summaries shortly — to sign up to receive the summaries by email, go […]

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There’s lots of news these days about the Bernie Madoff case.  Apparently, he’s going to plead guilty today, without a plea agreement, exposing himself to a virtually certain life sentence.  […]

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The News and Observer ran a story recently — available here — about the length of time it takes to resolve murder cases in North Carolina. The average time to […]

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North Carolina law prohibits convicted felons from possessing firearms.  See G.S. 14-415.1.  I’ve had several recurrent questions about this offense, so here’s an FAQ about FIP (felon in possession): 1. […]

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Third Update: The use of initials appears to be a floor below which a criminal pleading may not fall. In In re M.S., the court of appeals held that a […]

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