Latest posts in category Uncategorized on North Carolina Criminal Law Blog

While most news outlets focus on whether Judge Brett Kavanaugh will be confirmed as an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court, the Court has quietly kicked off a new Term. What criminal law cases does the Court have in store?

The Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the allegations of sexual assault leveled against Judge Brett Kavanaugh by Dr. Christine Blasey Ford was the major news of the week.  Both Kavanaugh and Blasey Ford testified before the committee, with Kavanaugh flatly denying the alleged assault and Blasey Ford declaring that she was certain that Kavanaugh attacked her.  Republican committee members ceded their time for questioning to Arizona prosecutor Rachel Mitchell while Democrats questioned Blasey Ford directly.  That approach resulted in an unusual proceeding that sharply alternated in five minute segments between a trial-like examination of Blasey Ford and a more traditional Senate committee hearing.  Keep reading for more news.

As all North Carolinians know, Hurricane Florence brought torrential rain to the eastern part of the state, causing widespread flooding and other damage.  At the time of this writing, Wilmington remained largely inaccessible, with the Department of Transportation saying Thursday morning that there was “no safe, stable or reliable route” of public access into or out of the city.  Many other communities along the coast and in southeastern North Carolina are in similarly challenging situations.  The North Carolina Disaster Relief Fund is accepting contributions to help with immediate unmet needs of Hurricane Florence victims.  Our thoughts are with everyone affected by the storm.  Keep reading for more news.

This News Roundup was written on Wednesday prior to UNC’s closure on Thursday and Friday in anticipation of the arrival of hurricane Florence.  Our thanks go out to all of the state and local officials, law enforcement agencies, and emergency response personnel who are working to keep North Carolinians safe during the storm.  Keep reading for more news.

My criminal justice students and I visited the British Library this morning to view an original Magna Carta (several originals were created by hand). I had considered taking them to Runnymede, the fabled meadow where the English barons forced King John to sign Magna Carta over 800 years ago in the year 1215. Apart from the time it would take to get there from London, I learned the British had repurposed the space to suit modern life. Runnymede is now considered an . . .

In Miller v. Alabama, 567 U.S. 460 (2012), the Supreme Court held that a sentencing regime that makes life without parole mandatory for a murder committed by a defendant under the age of 18 is unconstitutional. The rule applies retroactively. Montgomery v. Louisiana, 577 U.S. __, 136 S. Ct. 718 (2016). North Carolina amended its statutes to comply with the ruling in 2012, enacting G.S. 15A-1340.19A through -1340.19D to create an option to sentence certain young defendants to life with the possibility of parole after 25 years. Today’s post considers where we are after a half-decade under the new regime.

If you find this blog useful and would like to get your CLE from the School of Government faculty and staff who post here, you’re in luck! This fall, we’ll […]

This week it was widely reported that federal investigators have issued subpoenas to the North Carolina State Board of Elections as well as to elections boards in 44 counties in the eastern part of the state requesting the production of millions of voter records.  The Associated Press says that the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina issued the subpoenas on behalf of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, suggesting that the underlying investigation concerns illegal voting by people who are not citizens.  The AP piece notes that two weeks ago the Eastern District U.S. Attorney announced charges against 19 foreign nationals arising from alleged illegal voting activities.  Keep reading for more news.

My wife and I arrived in London yesterday morning, where we will be spending the fall semester. In addition to serving as the faculty director for UNC’s honors study abroad program, I will be teaching an undergraduate course on criminal law and justice. Assuming I’ve done it right, below are pictures of the entrance to our home away from home for the next four months, UNC’s Winston House on Bedford Square in central London.

The court of appeals in State v. Mathis, ___ N.C. App. ___ (2018), decided yesterday, considered whether a licensed bail bondsman could be convicted of obtaining property by false pretenses and unlawfully accessing a government computer for submitting false monthly reports to the NC Department of Insurance that omitted some of the outstanding bonds he had issued. The court upheld one conviction but found the evidence insufficient to support the other. Hazard a guess as to which conviction met which fate. Then read on to see how the court ruled and why.