Is having sex with your spouse “communication”? The court of appeals addressed this issue in State v. Godbey, a child sexual abuse case. The victim alleged that the defendant engaged in specific, unusual sexual acts with her. The court considered whether the defendant’s wife could be compelled to testify that the defendant engaged in similar acts with her, or whether those acts were covered by the confidential marital communication privilege.
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Five Things I’m Thankful For
Today’s post is the last for the week since the School of Government is closed Thursday and Friday for the Thanksgiving holiday. In honor of the occasion, I want to recognize five criminal-law-related institutions, programs, and people for which I am particularly grateful.
Recent North Carolina Case on Lack of Reasonable Suspicion to Make Vehicle Stop
Although reasonable suspicion requires less evidence than probable cause and often is not a difficult standard for an officer to satisfy to make an investigative stop, the standard requires an articulation of facts that is more than a mere hunch or suspicion. An example of the latter is last week’s North Carolina Court of Appeals opinion in State v. Watson (November 15, 2016), which ruled that an officer lacked reasonable suspicion to make a vehicle stop for illegal drugs. This post discusses the reasonable suspicion standard as applied in this case.
News Roundup
CNN reports that “[t]he latest FBI annual hate crimes report shows a sharp spike in the number of hate crimes nationwide, with attacks against Muslims increasing the most sharply.” The report is based on data from 2015, compared to 2014. While the percentage increase for crimes against Muslims was greatest, anti-Semitic incidents were the most prevalent in absolute terms. The report is available here. Has there been an increase in hate crimes after the recent presidential election? Yes. Or, no. Or, yes, just like after President Obama was first elected. We may need more than 10 days of data to answer that question definitively. Keep reading for more news.
In-Chambers Modifications and Extensions of Probation
Not all changes to a person’s probation happen after a hearing. Many changes are made in chambers (or some other location other than the courtroom), with the consent of the parties. Though it happens all the time, the General Statutes don’t really say much about it. Today’s post covers some of the issues that can arise.
How Many Expunctions Can a Person Get?
I sometimes get this question from judges, lawyers, and individuals seeking relief. The answer is: As many as the law allows. North Carolina’s statutes establish precise requirements for obtaining an expunction, including conditions barring relief. Many of the statutes specify that a prior expunction of an adult criminal proceeding bars a later expunction (more on juvenile proceedings below). Some statutes contain no such language, however. Under the terms of those statutes, a person with a prior expunction can obtain a later expunction if he or she meets the other requirements for relief. There is not a general prohibition on a subsequent expunction. Here are the principal statutes providing for this result.
Is Spitting on a Person an Assault?
Several years ago, the Sixth Circuit noted the “timeless question whether “spitting a ‘lugie’ towards someone, by itself, constitutes an ‘assault.’” United States v. Gagnon, 553 F.3d 1021 (6th Cir. 2009). I’ve been asked this question several times, and in today’s post, I set out to answer it.
News Roundup
The Washington Post reports that voters in Nebraska, California, and Oklahoma showed their support for the death penalty by “rejecting measures that would abolish it and, in one case, giving lawmakers more room to find new execution methods.” In Oklahoma, voters approved a proposal to add language to the state constitution explicitly stating that the death penalty is not cruel and unusual punishment, and gave state lawmakers the ability to adopt “any method of execution not prohibited by the United States Constitution.” As the News Roundup previously has noted, obtaining the drugs typically used for lethal injection is becoming increasingly difficult. Keep reading for more news.
When a Criminal Sentence Begins
Sometimes there is a delay between when the court pronounces a sentence and when the judgment is actually signed. When that happens, questions can arise about when the sentence begins. Is it when the judge says it, or when he or she signs it? Under G.S. 15A-101(4a), in criminal matters, “[j]udgment is entered when sentence … Read more