I recently taught on the basics of drug law in North Carolina and was reminded just what a tricky area it can be. Chapter 90 of the N.C. General Statutes is a dense, complex, and ever-evolving set of laws proscribing controlled substances. There are many substances, offenses, enhancements, and sentencing rules to know, as well as evidence issues and offense-specific case law. One thorny area involves the law of drug mixtures. While practitioners handling felony drug cases may be aware of the rules here, they may come as a surprise to others. Some applications of the law in this area can produce unexpected results for the unwary defendant. Today’s post examines the rules of drug mixtures and their implications in North Carolina.
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Lessons from the Alamance County Bail Litigation
A federal court Consent Order has been entered in the Alamance County bail litigation. The relief granted in that order and the county’s new local bail and first appearance policies hold important lessons for other North Carolina jurisdictions about the constitutional requirements for local bail systems. Put another way, because the agreed-upon relief and procedures in the Alamance case were deemed sufficient to address the constitutional violations alleged, they offer a model for other local bail systems. In this post, I discuss the key changes to the Alamance system.
Satisfying Conditions of Pretrial Release When in Juvenile Detention
Two changes in the law have led to a new phenomenon—the need for youth under the age of 18 to satisfy conditions of pretrial release while being confined in a juvenile detention facility. First, the Juvenile Justice Reinvestment Act (JJRA) raised the age of juvenile court jurisdiction for offenses committed at ages 16 and 17 on or after December 1, 2019. The JJRA includes a broad mandatory transfer provision, requiring that many felony matters shift from juvenile to superior court jurisdiction. G.S. 7B-2200.5(a). When that happens, the rules of criminal procedure (including those governing pretrial release) apply rather than the rules for juvenile cases. Second, Part II of Session Law 2020-83 required that the few minors who continue to be processed as adults in the criminal system from the outset of their cases be held in juvenile detention instead of adult jails. The release of minors subject to criminal rather than juvenile jurisdiction is governed by the usual criminal process for setting and satisfying conditions for pretrial release. Those conditions sometimes require posting a bond. But juvenile detention facilities are not equipped to process bonds. So how does this work? This post will review the circumstances in which a youth confined in juvenile detention may need to post bond, the impediments to doing so, and potential ways to address those problems.
News Roundup
On Tuesday, the city of Louisville announced a settlement agreement in a wrongful death lawsuit brought by the family of Breonna Taylor, a Black woman who was killed by police as they served a search warrant at her home in March. The city agreed to pay Taylor’s family $12 million and to make changes to Louisville Metro Police policy and practice. The police reforms include mandatory commanding officer review of all search warrants, mandatory EMS/paramedic presence for the execution of all search warrants, and measures to increase officer engagement with the community. Keep reading or more on this story and other news.
Case Summary – N.C. Court of Appeals (September 15, 2020)
This post summarizes an opinion issued by the North Carolina Court of Appeals on September 15, 2020.
New AOC Form for Relief from Monetary Obligations
The Administrative Office of the Courts has issued a new form, AOC-CR-415, through which a person can make a motion for relief from costs, fines, and other monetary obligations. The form also doubles as the order through which a judge can rule on the motion.
Case Summaries: Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals (August 2020)
This post summarizes criminal law and related opinions decided during August 2020 by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Welcome Back, Tom Thornburg!
A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of welcoming our new colleague Brittany Williams to the School of Government. Today, I have the honor of announcing another colleague’s return to the criminal law fold. After more than two decades of serving as an administrator at the School – most recently as the School’s Senior Associate Dean — Tom Thornburg has returned to traditional faculty work, where he will focus on magistrates and their needs in the area of criminal law and procedure. Tom will work closely with our colleague Dona Lewandowski, whose work focuses on magistrates’ civil responsibilities.
News Roundup
WLOS reports that Henderson County Sheriff’s Deputy Ryan Hendrix died yesterday after being shot while responding to the scene of a car break-in where gunfire had been exchanged by the owner of the car and the person breaking into it. Early Thursday morning, deputies responded to the Mountain Home community in Hendersonville where a resident reported that someone was breaking into his car, where he kept a gun. They found Robert Ray Doss, Jr., in a nearby truck and made contact with him. After first appearing to cooperate with the deputies, Doss fired a shot that hit Hendrix. Other deputies at the scene then shot and killed Doss. Hendrix is a Marine veteran who has been with the department since 2012. Keep reading for more news.
Serving Time for an Unpaid Fine or Costs When Time Has Already Been Served
If a defendant has fully served a term of imprisonment, can he or she be further imprisoned for not paying a fine or costs?