A UNC School of Government Blog
Child sexual abuse cases raise a bevy of evidence issues. One recurring issue is this: Is it permissible for the State’s expert to testify that sexual abuse in fact occurred? The answer is yes, in certain circumstances. Here are the rules: 1. In a case involving a child victim, an expert may testify that sexual … Read more
I recently heard a police detective say that the internet was the worst thing that ever happened to law enforcement. He explained that before advent of the internet, criminals had to leave their homes to hook up with other criminals. That movement could easily be tracked by the police. These days conspiracies can be hatched … Read more
Some probationers are subject to a curfew—a time each day (usually in the evening or at night) when they are restricted to their residence. Recent changes to the law have generated some questions about curfews. In particular, there appears to be some confusion about whether a curfew can or must be monitored electronically. This post … Read more
As Jessie noted in a previous post, when a prosecutor is making his or her closing argument, “caution should be exercised with regard to all comparisons between the defendant and an animal.” But what if the defendant is an animal? A South Carolina judge recently appointed an attorney to represent a pit bull alleged to … Read more
This week offered a nice mix of serious legal news and comic relief. Let’s start with the serious stuff. The News and Observer ran this story about declining juvenile crime rates. It states in part that “[w]hile overall violent crimes have declined by nearly 14 percent in the state since 2002, the number of teens … Read more
I blogged previously about whether the concept of curtilage applies to multi-unit dwellings like duplexes and apartment buildings. It’s an interesting question, and the cases summarized in the prior post show that the courts aren’t in complete agreement on the issue. I recently had a question on point, and one of the clipping services I … Read more
Former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky was sentenced yesterday to 30 to 60 years in prison on 45 counts of sexually abusing boys. The New York Times has the story here. The sentencing judge could have imposed a much longer cumulative sentence, but said: “I’m not going to sentence you to centuries. It makes … Read more
Last week, I wrote about the North Carolina Court of Appeals’ holding in State v. Smith, ___ N.C. App. ___, 729 S.E.2d 120 (2012), that a drug dog’s positive alert to a motor vehicle in which no drugs were found did not, by itself, provide probable cause to search the person of a recent passenger … Read more
The Justice Reinvestment Act created a new early release program called Advanced Supervised Release (ASR). In short, the law allows certain prison inmates to get out of prison early if they complete “risk reduction incentives” while they are incarcerated. I wrote about the basics of the law here, and covered a glitch in the law’s … Read more
Fall is here, meaning cooler weather, leaves changing colors, and of course, elections. The North Carolina Bar Association has a new website that provides the results of performance surveys regarding incumbent trial court judges and their challengers. There are also elections for several seats on the court of appeals, and one on the state supreme … Read more