Latest posts in category Uncategorized on North Carolina Criminal Law Blog

This post summarizes published criminal and related decisions from the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals released during April 2021.

Motorists across the state are scrambling to find gas after a cyberattack on Colonial Pipeline significantly reduced shipments of fuel throughout much of the east coast this week.  The attack, which involved encrypting data on the company’s computer systems, is being blamed on a group called DarkSide that is thought to be based in Russia or Eastern Europe.  The brazen international crime has caused a ripple effect of relatively minor local crime – as ABC 11 reports, two people have been charged with assault after fighting each other over spots in line at a station in Knightdale.  Keep reading for more news.

This week Governor Roy Cooper appointed R. Andrew Murray, the former U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina, as the acting District Attorney for Prosecutorial District 42 following the removal of Greg Newman from office.  Murray served as the District Attorney in Mecklenburg County prior to serving in the federal Western District.  Keep reading for more on this story and other news.

The latest cumulative supplement to North Carolina Crimes is now available. It incorporates legislation enacted and cases decided through December 31, 2020. You can buy the book here. Purchase of […]

Tragedy struck in Boone on Wednesday where two members of the Watauga County Sheriff’s Office were killed during a welfare check at a home.  Keep reading for more on this story and other news.

When does questioning of a middle school student by the principal and in the presence of the school resource officer (SRO) constitute a custodial interrogation? The Court of Appeals of North Carolina issued a decision last week, In re D.A.H. ___ N.C. App. ___, 2021-NCCOA-135 (April 20, 2021), that details the legal analysis necessary to answer this question. The decision reviews the unique characteristics and law related to schoolhouse questioning and identifies seven factors most relevant to determining whether a juvenile is in custody and three factors most relevant to determining whether questioning is an interrogation. The application of this analysis to the facts of the case offers an important takeaway—the legal analysis must focus on an objective reasonable child standard and not on a particular child’s subjective familiarity with an SRO who is regularly present in the school environment.

This post summarizes published criminal and related decisions from the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals issued in March of 2021 that may be of interest to state practitioners. Fourth Circuit summaries are also available on the UNC School of Government website, here.

The major national criminal law news of the week was the murder conviction of former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin for kneeling on George Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes while arresting him for allegedly passing a counterfeit $20 bill at a convenience store.  The jury’s verdict followed a trial that lasted nearly two weeks and included testimony from witnesses ranging from bystanders who filmed the incident and pleaded for Floyd’s life to the chief of the Minneapolis Police Department.  Floyd’s brother, Philonise Floyd, spoke with the PBS NewsHour about what the verdict meant for his family and the wider movement to eliminate racial disparities in policing.  Keep reading for more news.

This post summarizes published criminal decisions released by the North Carolina Court of Appeals on April 20, 2021.

A 26-year veteran of the Brooklyn Center Police Department in Minnesota, Kim Potter, was charged this week with second-degree manslaughter for killing 20-year-old Daunte Wright during a traffic stop where Potter possibly confused her pistol for her taser.  The incident, which involved a white officer and a Black victim and occurred in relatively close proximity to the location where Derek Chauvin’s trial is being held, sparked several nights of protests.  Following a traffic stop for an expired registration, Potter was attempting to take Wright into custody on an outstanding arrest warrant for failure to appear when Wright attempted to get back into his car and flee the stop.  Body camera footage appears to show Potter yelling “Taser” before firing a single fatal shot with her Glock service pistol.  Keep reading for more news.