North Carolina Criminal Law Blog

I previously blogged about the new misdemeanor crime of domestic violence, which will take effect on December 1, 2023. For the new offense, codified as G.S. 14-32.5, a person is guilty of a Class A1 misdemeanor if that person uses or attempts to use physical force, or threatens the use of a deadly weapon, against another person. The person who commits the offense must have a covered relationship with the victim, as specified by the statute. While both the new misdemeanor domestic violence statute (G.S. 14-32.5) and the existing domestic violence pretrial release statute (G.S. 15A-534.1) require both a covered offense and a qualifying relationship, the requirements do not mirror one another. This post explores the interplay between the relationships listed under G.S. 14-32.5 and G.S. 15A-534.1.

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A group in Massachusetts is working to clear the names of people accused of witchcraft, according to this report from the AP. The Massachusetts Witch-Hunt Justice Project includes historians and distant relatives of the hundreds of people who were charged, tried for, or convicted of witchery in the state during the 17th century. A similar effort in Connecticut resulted in a legislative resolution of innocence on behalf of the accused and an apology. According to this story, the last witchcraft trial in North America took place in Virigina in 1706. Read on for more criminal law news.

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A few weeks ago I wrote about provisions of the 2023 Appropriations Act that affect the judiciary. Among those changes was the creation of ten new special superior court judgeships to be filled by legislative appointment. The General Assembly made seven of those appointments last week. See S.L. 2023-148 (S 761). The list of special superior court judges who are appointed to eight-year terms effective January 1, 2024, follows.

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This post covers recent statutory changes related to the custodial interrogation of youth who are 16 and 17 years of age and to the issuance and execution of secure custody orders in delinquency cases. All of these changes are contained in Session law 2023-114 and will apply to offenses committed on or after December 1, 2023.

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The Colorado Supreme Court upheld the search of Google users’ keyword history to identify suspects in a 2020 fatal arson fire. The Court cautioned it was not making a “broad proclamation” on the constitutionality of such warrants and emphasized it was ruling on the facts of just this one case. At issue before the court was a search warrant from Denver police requiring Google to provide the IP addresses of anyone who had searched over 15 days for the address of the home that was set on fire, killing five people. According to this AP News article, one suspect asked the court to throw the evidence out because it violated the Fourth Amendment’s ban on unreasonable searches and seizures by being overbroad and not being targeted against a specific person suspected of a crime. The Court ruled that the suspect had a constitutionally protected privacy interest in his Google search history even though it was only connected with an IP address and not his name. While assuming that the warrant was “constitutionally defective” for not specifying an “individualized probable cause,” the Court said it would not throw out the evidence because police were acting in good faith under what was known about the law at the time. Keep reading for more criminal law news.

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Most of the news I’ve gathered this week is from right here in North Carolina, but I’ll start with an interesting story from Oklahoma. The AP reports here that “A new Oklahoma judge could lose her job for sending more than 500 texts to her bailiff during a murder trial, including messages mocking the prosecutor, praising the defense attorney and calling a key witness a liar.” Judge Traci Soderstrom seems to have spent much of her time texting and scrolling through social media while presiding over a trial involving the murder of a two year old. Some of the texts were crass and tasteless enough that I won’t repeat them. She has acknowledged that her texting “probably could have waited.” The Chief Justice of the state supreme court has recommended her removal. Keep reading for more news.

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Each year the School of Government publishes new and revised pattern jury instructions for civil, criminal, and motor vehicle negligence cases. Those instructions are created and compiled by the North Carolina Conference of Superior Court Judges Committee on Pattern Jury Instructions. The 2023 updates are available for free download here.  Among this year’s changes are new civil instructions related to breach of fiduciary duty and new and revised criminal instructions for the arson offenses created by S.L. 2022-8 and for the changes to organized retail theft crimes enacted by S.L. 2022-30. Keep reading to learn about improvements to the School’s online library of pattern jury instructions and about the School’s plan to publish comprehensive, searchable electronic versions of pattern jury instructions in future years.

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After more than 25 years, an arrest has been made in the killing of the rapper Tupac Shakur, as AP news reports here. “Pac” died in a drive-by shooting in 1996 in Las Vegas at the age of 25. The suspect is charged in Nevada state court with murder by deadly weapon. Police allege that the man supplied the gun and otherwise assisted in the homicide. The defendant is the last living suspect in the case and has apparently publicly acknowledged his presence at the crime scene and involvement over the years. According to this piece from Time, the arrest is linked to the investigation of another infamous unsolved killing, the murder of Christopher Wallace, a/k/a “the Notorious B.I.G.” He was killed in Los Angeles at age 24 around six months after Tupac. The impact of both men’s short-lived careers on hip-hop can hardly be overstated. Still no word on who shot Biggie Smalls. Read on for more criminal law news.

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Law enforcement and the communities they serve want effective responses to crime and other problems. They want policing that promotes safety and trust. And they want alternative responses for behavioral […]

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Law enforcement officers in Philadelphia arrested more than 50 people Tuesday night after a flash mob ransacked dozens of stores, including Foot Locker, Lululemon, Apple, and at least 18 state-run liquor stores. The looting began after a peaceful protest over a judge’s dismissal of charges against a Philadelphia police officer who shot and killed driver Eddie Irizarry through a rolled-up window after pulling him over for erratic driving. The Police Commissioner said the looters were not associated with the protests, but instead were “criminal opportunists” who launched a coordinated attack. The Associated Press has the story here. In related news, Target announced earlier that same day that it was closing nine stores in four states because organized retail crime had made operating the stores unsafe and unsustainable. The stores include the East Harlem location in New York City, two locations in Seattle, three in Portland, and three in San Franscisco and Oakland. CNN has the story here. Keep reading for more criminal law news.

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