North Carolina Criminal Law

On Wednesday this week, Austin Thompson entered guilty pleas to five counts of murder and other charges stemming from a 2022 mass shooting in a Raleigh neighborhood. The defendant, who […]

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In May 2024, Orange County and the Chapel Hill Police Department launched the Crisis Assistance, Response, and Engagement (CARE) Team. The CARE Team is an all-civilian mobile crisis response team […]

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This post summarizes published criminal law and related cases released by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals during December 2025. Cases of potential interest to state practitioners are summarized monthly. […]

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Tensions in Minneapolis escalated again Wednesday night as a federal agent shot and wounded a man during an arrest, an incident the Department of Homeland Security said followed a “violent […]

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This post summarizes the published criminal opinions from the North Carolina Court of Appeals released on January 7, 2026. Videos of the defendant sexually assaulting his unconscious wife were authenticated […]

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Last Friday, Indonesia enacted its new penal code, replacing colonial-era laws that had governed the country for over a century. The legal reform implements a new national criminal code (KUHP) and a criminal procedures […]

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For the second day in a row, I’m pleased to announce a new publication co-authored by Belal. The latest edition of the North Carolina Sentencing Handbook is available for purchase here. 

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The last few years have brought about several changes to the laws surrounding pretrial release. Before many of these changes, there was a general rule that a defendant charged with […]

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Additional information came to light last week in the case against Luigi Mangione, the 27-year-old man accused of murdering UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, during a key pretrial hearing on a […]

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Many law enforcement agencies have policies prohibiting officers from associating with criminals, or with felons. From time to time, an officer is disciplined or terminated for violating such a policy. […]

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