Parts I – IV of Session Law 2021-123 make changes to the statutory structure that raised the age of juvenile jurisdiction to include most offenses committed at ages 16 and 17. The most significant changes relate to new prosecutorial discretion to decline to transfer cases in which the most serious charge is a Class D – Class G felony and the ability to extend the length of jurisdiction when a juvenile is committed to a Youth Development Center (YDC) for a Class A – Class E felony committed at age 16 or 17. The raise the age changes in S.L. 2021-123 are detailed below.
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News Roundup
As the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports, jury selection began this week in the joint trial of three men charged with murdering Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia in February of last year. The report says that jury selection is proceeding slowly because many jurors have said that they believe the defendants are guilty after seeing cellphone video of the incident that was widely publicized after the killing. Keep reading for more on this story and other news.
News Roundup
ABC 11 recently took a trip to observe law enforcement training at Robeson County Community College where officers from various local agencies used high tech simulation equipment to practice de-escalation techniques and experience the high stress situations, such as those involving an active shooter, where use of force decisions must be made. The report notes that the North Carolina Justice Academy launched a new de-escalation training model earlier this year and that there is widespread interest in enhancing law enforcement training across the state. Keep reading for more news.
Court of Appeals Rules on Pretrial Self-Defense Immunity Hearings
Last month, the Court of Appeals decided State v. Austin, ___ N.C. App. ___, 2021-NCCOA-494 (Sept. 21, 2021), and a summary of the opinion is available here. Austin addressed several noteworthy self-defense issues, including the sufficiency of the state’s evidence to rebut the presumption of reasonable fear under the “castle doctrine” statutes added in 2011 and whether the trial court’s jury instructions on that issue were proper.
But first, the court had to decide whether the statutory language conferring “immunity from liability” meant that the defendant was entitled to have this issue resolved by the judge at a pretrial hearing. That’s a question I’ve been asked fairly often over the past few years, and my sense is that prior to Austin there were divergent practices on this point around the state.
This post takes a closer look at that portion of the court’s opinion, and explores what we now know and what we still don’t.
Revisions to North Carolina’s Satellite-Based Monitoring Law
After years of litigation concerning the constitutionality of satellite-based monitoring (SBM) of sex offenders, the General Assembly has amended the law pretty dramatically. Today’s post describes those changes.
News Roundup
The Winston-Salem Journal reports that seven alumni of the UNC School of the Arts have filed a lawsuit in Forsyth Superior Court alleging that they were victims of sexual abuse perpetrated by faculty members in the 1980s and that school administrators did not intervene after the students reported the abuse. The plaintiffs are asking that the suit proceed as a class-action and say that several hundred former students could join. Keep reading for more news.
Case Summaries: N.C. Court of Appeals (Oct. 5, 2021)
This post summarizes published criminal decisions from the North Carolina Court of Appeals released on October 5, 2021. As always, these summaries will be added to Smith’s Criminal Case Compendium, a free and searchable database of case summaries from 2008 to present.
From 6 to 10: New Minimum Age for Juvenile Delinquency and Undisciplined Jurisdiction
Session Law 2021-123 includes several significant changes to the law that governs juvenile delinquency cases. This post will describe one of those changes—an increase in the minimum age for delinquency and undisciplined cases. As I write this post, that age is set at 6 years old. G.S. 7B-1501(7)a., -1501(27)a. Beginning with offenses committed on or after December 1, 2021, the minimum age for most acts of delinquency and for all undisciplined behaviors will be 10 years old. S.L. 2021-123 § 5.(b). This change comes with limited exceptions that provide for delinquency jurisdiction for some offenses committed at ages 8 and 9, a new procedure for juvenile justice to work with children between the ages of 6 and 10 through a juvenile consultation process, and new law related to the role of parents in juvenile consultation matters. This post walks through each of these components.
News Roundup
The Associated Press reported Thursday that four North Carolina prisons and a drug addiction treatment facility are being renamed because of historical connections to racism or slavery. NC DPS has a press release about the name changes here. The new names take effect on Monday. Keep reading for more on this story and other news.
News Roundup
USA Today reports that federal indictments for financial crimes were issued this week against Brian Laundrie, who also has been named as a person of interest in the killing of his fiancé Gabby Petito. Petito’s disappearance, and the eventual discovery of her remains at a campground near Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming, became a major national news story when Laundrie returned to Florida without Petito after the pair embarked on a cross country road trip. Laundrie did not explain Petito’s disappearance and has himself been missing for more than a week. Keep reading for more news.