North Carolina Criminal Law

The chart available here summarizes the rules for the proper place of confinement for felonies, misdemeanors, and impaired driving. But additional questions come up from time to time that don’t […]

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I wrote a comic book about prison. Let me explain why.

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Two new sentencing enhancements related to gangs will come into effect for offenses committed on or after December 1, 2017.

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I get at least one jail credit question almost every day. How jail credit is tabulated and applied can be as important as the sentence itself in determining how long […]

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Many of you probably remember the “I’m Just a Bill” segment from the Schoolhouse Rock! series. It explained—through a musical number that will be stuck in your head all day—how […]

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Maybe so, if two decisions from earlier this month are any indication. They are: State v. Bishop, ___ N.C. App. ___ (Oct. 3, 2017), where the court refused to consider […]

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One of the statutory aggravating factors for felony sentencing is that the defendant has, during the 10-year period prior to the commission of the offense now being sentenced, been found […]

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Under G.S. 7A-304(a), when a defendant is convicted, court costs “shall be assessed,” unless the court waives them pursuant to a written order determining that there is just cause to […]

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I wrote a post in July asking whether conditional discharge under G.S. 90-96(a) is discretionary or mandatory for a consenting defendant. A case decided this week offers some clarification.

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A probation violation need not be alleged with the technical precision of an indictment, but there are still some rules about the right way to prepare a probation violation report.

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