A UNC School of Government Blog
Some of you aren’t getting email notifications of new posts. Sorry about that. Our IT folks are working to resolve the glitch, but it may take a little time. I’ll keep you informed. Meanwhile, the world keeps turning. Among the interesting news this week: In a development that is a surprise to exactly no one, … Read more
Jamie’s post yesterday about the legislature’s amendments to the JRA was great, and absolutely essential for criminal lawyers. Shea’s recent post on the expansion of continuous alcohol monitoring was equally valuable. But, let’s be honest, no one is going to ask you at a cocktail party about changes to the CRV rules for misdemeanants. (Unless … Read more
Five years ago, the General Assembly authorized judges to require that defendants placed on probation for a Level One or Level Two impaired driving offense abstain from consuming alcohol for at least thirty but not more than sixty days as verified by a continuous alcohol monitoring system. Continuous alcohol monitoring systems (CAM) employ ankle transmitter … Read more
In State v. King, the N.C. Supreme Court recently clarified the rules regarding the admissibility of repressed memory evidence. In King the defendant was charged with sexually assaulting his daughter, a minor. When she was approximately 17 years old, the victim began suffering panic attacks and pseudoseizures, acting like a young child, speaking of a … Read more
Over the past several days, the national news has been dominated by the issuance of an investigative report about the Penn State child sexual abuse scandal, a topic I previously addressed here. The report makes clear that football coach Joe Paterno, university president Graham Spanier, and other university leaders were aware of the problem and … Read more
The Fourth Circuit recently decided United States v. Sowards, an interesting case about a traffic stop. The case arose when an experienced traffic enforcement officer stopped the defendant on I-77 near Charlotte. The basis for the stop was the officer’s visual estimate that the defendant was driving 75 m.p.h. in a 70 m.p.h. zone. During … Read more
Senate Bill 105, which passed both chambers of the General Assembly overwhelmingly and appears certain to become law (either with the Governor’s signature or because of the passage of time without her veto), increases the penalty for most second-degree murders. Second-degree murder is currently a B2 felony, but for offenses committed on or after December … Read more
In State v. Huerta, the court of appeals recently reaffirmed its controlled substance “combination decisions.” Here’s what happened. Huerta was convicted of, among other things, trafficking by possession of more than 400 grams of cocaine. During a search of Huerta’s house, officers found three caches of what turned out to be cocaine: (1) one kilogram-sized … Read more
Jeff’s away and has left me in charge of the news roundup. So there’ll be no Gizmodo stories this week. (I’m still figuring out how to work my iPhone.) Fortunately, the week was full of criminal law news that doesn’t require the cracking of any source codes. 1. The General Assembly adjourned on Tuesday, July … Read more
Concluding that current State criminal statutes “do not sufficiently recognize the increased danger to the public and do not sanction appropriately acts of terrorism,” S.L. 2012-38, the General Assembly recently enacted a new terrorism offense. The new crime applies to offenses committed on after December 1, 2012. Id. Here’s what you need to know: Statute: … Read more