Latest posts in category Uncategorized on North Carolina Criminal Law Blog

Officer-involved shootings have been a frequent topic of national news in recent months.  This week, there have been notable developments in two North Carolina cases.  First, the News and Observer reports that a Harnett County grand jury declined to indict a sheriff’s deputy, Nicholas Kehagias, who shot and killed John Livingston in November.  The report indicates that the decision comes “after months of unease in Harnett County” that included protests in front of the courthouse by Livingston’s friends and family.  The jury reportedly was asked to consider second-degree murder charges.  Though Kehagias will not face criminal charges, the News and Observer reports that Livingston’s family will pursue a civil case against him.

The other North Carolina case in the news involves a February incident in which Raleigh police officer D.C. Twiddy shot and killed Akiel Denkins.  WRAL reports that Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman announced Wednesday that no criminal charges will be filed against Twiddy.  The announcement follows an SBI investigation into the incident.  The report says that community leaders “appeal[ed] for calm in the community” at a prayer vigil on Wednesday night, and notes that local officials praised the community for maintaining calm throughout the investigation.  Keep reading for more news:

Federal law and North Carolina law each prohibit in their own ways the possession of a firearm by a felon and, under federal law, certain domestic violence misdemeanors as well. A recent Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals case ruled that a North Carolina felony conviction did not qualify to prove the federal offense of possession of a firearm by felon. The fact that this conviction likely would qualify for the North Carolina offense leads to this post that provides a general overview of the differences.

As previously noted by the News Roundup, the FBI was able to unlock an iPhone belonging to one of the shooters in the San Bernardino terror attacks without Apple’s assistance.  Now that the FBI has this capability, local law enforcement agencies and district attorneys’ offices anticipate that they will ask the FBI to help access cellphones in investigations of criminal offenses, according to a report from the Charlotte Observer.  The report indicates that about 20 percent of the phones examined by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department’s cybercrime unit are encrypted and the unit has been unable to access information on the devices.  Keep reading for more news.

In 2015, the Office of Indigent Defense Services (IDS) asked the School of Government to conduct an online survey of how superior and district court judges view IDS’s administration of indigent defense in North Carolina. Last week, the School issued its report of the survey results, Trial Judges’ Perceptions of North Carolina’s Office of Indigent Defense Services: A Report on Survey Results (March 2016) (referred to below as the Report). The verdict? Judges have a positive view of IDS’s performance, overall and in several key areas, but the results include a few warning signs for indigent defense.

Local and national reaction to the General Assembly’s approval in a one-day special session last week of House Bill 2, the “Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act,” is dominating the news.  The Charlotte Observer’s initial report about the bill being signed into law is available here.  Over on the SOG Coates’ Canons blog, Trey Allen has a thorough overview of the new law and Norma Houston takes a look at its impact on city and county contracts.  In connection with the Charlotte controversy, Jeff considered the criminal implications of restroom usage by the opposite sex in this post from last year.

Proponents have argued that the new law is intended to protect public safety, but critics say it is discriminatory.  The News and Observer reports that Attorney General and gubernatorial candidate Roy Cooper has announced that his office will not defend the law which has already been challenged in federal court.  In response, Governor Pat McCrory released a video criticizing Cooper’s decision, and N.C. Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Berger called for Cooper to resign.  Keep reading for more news.

A few years ago, I attend the Judicial Conference of the Fourth Circuit, where I heard Bryan Stevenson speak. The address was captivating. Stevenson spoke of representing the wrongly accused and the wrongly convicted. He told of advocating for juveniles who were incarcerated with adults and who were sexually abused as a result. He urged the audience to get a little closer to the criminal justice system, and to look a little more carefully at it. Now Stevenson has written a book, Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption. Among many other awards, it was named a best book of the year by the New York Times, the Washington Post, and Time magazine. I thought it was good, but not great.

The SOG is closed for a holiday tomorrow, so the News Roundup is coming to you a day early.  This week’s top news story is the bombing of the airport and a metro station in Brussels.  USA Today has full coverage of the attack here.  Three explosions were reported and at least 34 people were confirmed dead in the attack at the time of writing.   According to USA Today, the Islamic State has taken credit for the attack and Belgium’s federal prosecutor confirmed that the bombings were the work of terrorists.  WRAL has a story about a local man who was in Brussels Airport and survived the bombing.  Keep reading for more news.

President Obama announced that he has selected Merrick B. Garland as his nominee for the vacant seat on the Supreme Court.  The New York Times has an overview article about the nomination that states that it “sets in motion a standoff that is likely to play out for many months, perhaps without resolution.”  Garland is currently serving as the chief judge of the District of Columbia Circuit, and reportedly is broadly respected for his work.  A range of news outlets have published pieces on Garland’s background.  The Obama administration’s is here; The Chicago Tribune’s is here; Newsweek’s is here; The Atlantic’s is here.  The Wall Street Journal’s Law Blog has a collection of reactions to the nomination from people in the legal field here.  Hit the break for more news.

In 2014, 1,284 people were killed in traffic accidents in North Carolina. Most of those people were occupants in a passenger car, though motor vehicle crashes also claimed the lives of 172 pedestrians, 190 motorcyclists and 19 bicyclists. Seventy percent of the fatalities resulted from crashes that did not involve an alcohol-impaired driver. While it is fairly easy to determine the appropriate criminal charge when a person drives while impaired and proximately causes the death of another, it is less obvious what the appropriate charge is when a driver’s violation of another type of traffic statute proximately causes someone else’s death.

Former First Lady Nancy Reagan died on Sunday.  The L.A. Times has full coverage of her death here.  As noted in this article, Reagan was influential in the anti-drug policies of Ronald Reagan’s presidency and is responsible for the “Just Say No” slogan that is recognized across the nation.  Reagan lies in repose at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library ahead of a funeral scheduled for today.  More news after the break: