A UNC School of Government Blog
The news this week contained quite a few little oddities. I’m stretched for time so I will set them out briefly. (For a lawyer.) First, Barry Saunders at the News and Observer wrote here about the teenager charged with misuse of the 911 system after she called to report that her parents had taken away … Read more
A recent case from the Supreme Court of North Carolina appears to have relaxed the limits on the use of hearsay at a probation violation hearing. The case also sheds light on the persistent question of whether a pending criminal charge may be considered as a violation of probation. In State v. Murchison, the defendant … Read more
Must a parent testify against his or her child when called as a witness? Conversely, must a child testify against his or her parent? The answer depends on whether there is a parent-child privilege. No North Carolina case, statute, or rule. I couldn’t quickly find a North Carolina case or statute on point. So I … Read more
We’ve already covered lawyer attire on the blog. In fact, that post is one of the most popular we’ve ever had. A recent story has brought juror attire to the fore. According to the Wall Street Journal Law Blog, a federal court in Florida sent two prospective jurors home for violating the court’s dress code. … Read more
Looking for some great beach reading? Look no further than the 2013 Punishment Chart for North Carolina Crimes and Motor Vehicle Offenses by Bob Farb! Available here, it is 129 pages of legal goodness. It contains information about statutory penalties for North Carolina crimes, including which offenses require sex offender registration. The Administrative Office of … Read more
Post bail and skip out on court in North Carolina and chances are that someone other than a law enforcement officer will come looking for you. Bail bondsmen in this state have expansive powers to recapture their principals. Bondsmen may use reasonable force to apprehend a principal—even before a bond is forfeited. See State v. Mathis, … Read more
Entering a sentence is more than a mere recitation of months and years and dollars. A judge has wide latitude to consider all sorts of information at sentencing, and then to make comments about that information when pronouncing judgment. As the Fourth Circuit put it in a leading case, “[t]o a considerable extent a sentencing … Read more
How should a law enforcement officer conduct a lineup when the suspect has a facial tattoo? More than one in five American adults now has a tattoo according to a recent Harris poll. My sense is that facial tattoos, although still uncommon, are also increasing in popularity. But when a person with a facial tattoo … Read more
The murky law of contempt — particularly the distinction between civil and criminal contempt — got even more confusing last month with the Court of Appeals’ decision in Tyll v. Berry. The court said that civil contempt may include a fine, not just imprisonment, and can require the fine to be paid to a private … Read more
Today is the 70th anniversary of D-Day in Normandy, the beginning of the end of WWII. Over 4,000 Allied soldiers died that day, and many more were injured. People have different ways of remembering the anniversary. My favorite commemoration is the one undertaken by 93-year-old Jim Martin, who did the same parachute drop into France … Read more