This post summarizes published criminal decisions from the North Carolina Court of Appeals decided on April 7, 2020.
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Case Summaries – North Carolina Supreme Court (April 3, 2020) and United States Supreme Court (April 6 & March 23, 2020)
This post summarizes the published criminal cases from the North Carolina Supreme Court issued on April 3, 2020, and two decisions from the United States Supreme Court issued on April 6 and March 23, 2020.
Thanks to John Rubin and Chris Tyner for preparing the U.S. Supreme Court summaries.
Two-Week Moratorium on Inmate Transfers to Prison
Effective today, the North Carolina Department of Public Safety has placed a 14-day moratorium on the movement of inmates from the county jails to the state prison system. State officials made the decision with the support of the North Carolina Sheriffs’ Association to help manage the COVID-19 pandemic.
April 2 Emergency Directives Require Continuances, Authorize Remote Proceedings, and Extend Time to Pay
Chief Justice Cheri Beasley entered an order last Thursday, April 2, 2020, imposing emergency directives that were immediately effective and that affect criminal cases.
Legal authority. The Chief Justice’s order was entered pursuant to G.S. 7A-39(b)(2), which permits the Chief Justice, after determining or declaring that catastrophic conditions exist in one or more counties of the state, to issue emergency directives necessary to ensure the continuing operation of essential trial or appellate court functions. Such directives are effective notwithstanding any other provision of law.
News Roundup
As WLOS reports, a man who fired shots at a law enforcement officer in downtown Asheville on Tuesday morning was shot and killed by deputies who were at the Buncombe County Courthouse and responded to the nearby scene. Shane Tilman Kent was killed after shooting a 9mm handgun from inside a parked vehicle near the courthouse. One sheriff’s office lieutenant involved in the incident sustained injuries to his arm, either from a bullet or broken glass from the car Kent was in when he was shot. The SBI now is assisting in the investigation. Keep reading for more news.
Sentencing Health Control Measures
Whenever I teach about Structured Sentencing, I usually start by saying that the law covers most North Carolina crimes, with a few exceptions. Capital felonies and violent habitual felons have their own sentencing rules. And of course so does impaired driving. But a final exception carved out of Structured Sentencing in G.S. 15A-1340.10 is G.S. 130A-25, failure to comply with health control measures. I don’t typically spend much time on those rules, though, as there are only a handful of convictions under them in the state each year (seven in 2019). Now seemed like a good time to take a look.
News Roundup
Again this week the coronavirus pandemic was the dominant news story across the nation, with many communities around North Carolina issuing stay at home orders directing residents to avoid leaving their homes except for essential activities. We continue to be grateful for the efforts of North Carolinians on the front lines of the pandemic – healthcare providers, emergency responders, law enforcement, state and local government officials and employees, and those who work in essential businesses. Keep reading for more news.
FAQs about Coronavirus and the Correctional System
Today’s post shares my answers to some of the questions I have been asked related to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the correctional system. As you might imagine, many of those questions are focused on ways to reduce jail and prison populations.
North Carolina County-Level Criminal Charging Data
We have produced a variety of reports providing criminal justice stakeholders with key metrics to help them understand and evaluate their local criminal justice systems. Among other things, we have produced statewide and county level data on use of citations by law enforcement officers, use of summonses and warrants by magistrates, imposition of different types of conditions of pretrial release, and local jail occupancy numbers. In this report, we provide statewide and county level information on number of criminal charges, charged defendants, and criminal cases. As with our other reports, we make no judgment about the data presented; our goal simply is to provide data to inform stakeholders. Our full spreadsheet of results (here) has three main tabs showing data for (1) all offenses; (2) felonies; and (3) misdemeanors. Two additional tabs break down misdemeanor offenses into non-traffic misdemeanors and traffic misdemeanors. Each tab presents the following information at the state and county level:
- Total charged offenses
- Charged offenses per 100,000 population
- Total charged defendants
- Total charged cases
- Changes in these data points, from 2018 to 2019