It’s Friday the 13th, and a corpse was found in a Raleigh Food Lion freezer earlier this week, according to a story from the N&O. Chillingly, the incident “is not the first time a body has been found in a workplace freezer.” The investigation continues. Read on for more criminal law news.
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News Roundup
The most significant criminal law story this week was the mass shooting at Apalachee High School in Barrow County, Georgia. Tragically, two teachers and two students were killed, and at least nine others were wounded. The people injured are expected to live. The suspect, a 14-year-old student at the school, is in custody facing murder charges. The AP reports that the juvenile was previously interviewed by law enforcement in connection with alleged online threats of a school shooting over a year ago. The juvenile’s father has also been charged with second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter in connection with the shootings. The story notes that this is the 30th mass killing in the United States in 2024. Read on for more of the latest criminal law news.
News Roundup
In national news, prosecutors filed a superseding indictment in the federal criminal case against Donald Trump after the Supreme Court granted former presidents substantial immunity. Court papers say the new indictment “reflects the Government’s efforts to respect and implement the Supreme Court’s holdings and remand instructions.” Last month, the Supreme Court ruled that former presidents have absolute immunity from prosecution for official acts that fall within their “exclusive sphere of constitutional authority” and are presumptively entitled to immunity for all official acts. But that wasn’t the end of the story – on the election subversion charges, the Court sent the case back to U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan to “carefully analyze” whether the allegations involve “official conduct” for which the former president would be immune from prosecution. It appears after weeks of consulting with other officials in the Justice Department, special counsel Jack Smith sees a way to proceed in the case, consistent with the Supreme Court’s ruling. Read on for more criminal law news.
Changes Coming to Delinquency Law
Session Law 2024-17 contains several changes to delinquency law and new penalties for soliciting a minor to commit an offense. I covered the changes related to juvenile jurisdiction and the transfer process in last month’s blog. This blog explains the remaining changes. They include modifications to the timelines for secure custody hearings and for a victim or a complainant to request prosecutor review of a decision not to file a petition, school notification of the filing of a felony delinquency petition, restitution as a dispositional alternative, and the crime of soliciting a minor to commit an offense. These changes will take effect beginning with offenses committed on or after December 1, 2024.
Did State v. Singleton Bring a Sea Change in the Law of Indictments?
The North Carolina Supreme Court’s opinion in State v. Singleton, No. 318PA22, __ N.C. __ (2024), brings about a transformation of North Carolina indictment law. The case “ends [a] centuries old saga” in deciding that the “common law jurisdictional indictment rule” is “no longer the law in this State.” Slip. op. 3, 40. My colleague, Joe Hyde, delved into the analysis and history set forth in the 84-page opinion here. This post will elaborate on the potential consequences for practitioners.
News Roundup
Verizon Wireless is facing a lawsuit after a man claiming to be a detective with the Cary Police Department was arrested for stalking. Last year, Robert Glauner, who is a resident of New Mexico, sent Verizon Wireless a fake search warrant demanding phone records from a Cary woman. He falsely claimed that the woman was a homicide suspect, but it was later revealed that she was someone he was stalking after connecting with her online.
News Roundup
Local news became national news this week when a man serving life imprisonment for the murder of a one-year-old child on Christmas escaped from custody. According to the AP, 30-year-old Ramone Alston was able to free himself from leg restraints and run into the woods as his van arrived at a UNC hospital in Hillsborough, NC. Mr. Alston was scheduled for a medical appointment. After the state offered a $25,000 reward for tips leading to his apprehension, and the U.S. Marshals added an additional $10,000 incentive, authorities received a torrent of phone calls. Orange County Sheriff Charles Blackwood stated he has known Mr. Alston since Mr. Alston’s birth. After a three-day search for Mr. Alston involving 19 law enforcement agencies, Mr. Alston was apprehended at a Comfort Inn in Kannapolis.
Read on for more criminal law news.
Grants Pass: Local Government Authority and the Constitutionality of Laws Against Camping or Sleeping in Public
According to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, well over half a million people are unhoused on any given night in America. Given the magnitude of the crisis, local governments face immense challenges in addressing the underlying causes of homelessness while managing public health and safety concerns. Some local governments, including many in North Carolina, have adopted anti-camping and/or anti-sleeping ordinances as part of their response.
The Supreme Court of the United States recently considered whether the Eighth Amendment’s Cruel and Unusual Punishments Clause barred an Oregon city’s adoption of ordinances restricting camping on public property in City of Grants Pass v. Johnson, 603 U. S. ____ (2024). One of us previewed the case and commented on the oral arguments a few months ago. On June 28, 2024, the Supreme Court upheld the city’s public camping laws, concluding that their enforcement does not constitute “cruel and unusual punishment” under the Eighth Amendment. This blog post analyzes the Court’s decision and offers guidance to local governments regarding anti-sleeping and anti-camping ordinances.
[Editor’s note: This post is cross posted on Coates’ Canons, the School of Government’s local government law blog.]
News Roundup
Last week, the Department of Defense announced that 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammad and two co-defendants had reached plea deals. Generally, the defendants would plead guilty to various charges before the military tribunal at Guantanamo Bay and accept life in prison, and in exchange would be spared the death penalty. Then the Department of Defense announced that the deals are off. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin issued a memo revoking the deals and reserving to himself the authority to enter into plea agreements. Some families of 9/11 victims have cheered Austin’s decision while others support the deals. The defendants assert that a deal’s a deal and that Austin can’t nix them. Litigation is sure to ensue, further extending cases that have lasted more than two decades already. Keep reading for more news.
New Dashboard Metric Shows How North Carolina Criminal Charges Get Disposed
We recently added 2022 and 2023 Automated Criminal Infractions System (ACIS) court records data to our Measuring Justice Dashboard. We also just released a new Dashboard metric showing how North Carolina criminal charges get disposed. At the Lab, we support evidence-based approaches to criminal justice that promote public safety, a fair and effective system, and … Read more