Articles in the Uncategorized category - Page 92 of 153

It’s solar eclipse day! Millions of North Carolinians will see today’s eclipse, with those in the far western end of the state experiencing totality. As is my custom when exceedingly rare things happen, I’ll mark the occasion by writing about some things that go beyond our usual subject matter.

The violence that erupted in Charlottesville, Virginia, when counter-protesters clashed with hate groups demonstrating in opposition to the city’s removal of a statue of Robert E. Lee is one of the biggest news stories of the year.  As the demonstration dispersed, an Ohio man, James Alex Fields Jr., drove his car into a crowd of counter-protesters, killing one woman, Heather Heyer, and injuring many others.  In a separate incident, two Virginia State Police officers monitoring the situation, H. Jay Cullen and Berke Bates, were killed in a helicopter crash.  The Charlottesville violence and the responses to it are sobering reminders of America’s continuing struggle with racial and ethnic hostility.  Keep reading for more news.

North Carolina adopted a rule in 1979 to limit the introduction of evidence about the sexual behavior of an alleged victim in criminal trials for rape and other sexual offenses. Before that so-called rape shield rule was enacted, evidence of prosecuting witness’s general reputation for unchastity could be introduced in a rape trial to attack the witness’s credibility and to show the likelihood of his or her consent. See, e.g., State v. Banks, 295 N.C. 399 (1978), overruled on other grounds, State v. Collins, 334 N.C. 54 (1993).

A 1977 report on sexual assaults by the Legislative Research Commission recommended adoption of the rape shield rule “to improve the conduct of sexual assault prosecutions” in the state. Detailed Comments on Draft Law, Legislative Research Commission, Report to the 1977 General Assembly of North Carolina: Sexual Assaults 86 (1977). The commission explained that such prosecutions were “too often conducted in a way that embarrasses or intimidates the victim beyond the defendant’s legitimate interest in a fair trial.” Id. The “chief evil” was the “use of evidence of irrelevant sexual behavior to influence the court and jury, not because it is logically related to any material issue in the proceeding, but because it creases prejudice against the person whose sexual behavior is so demonstrated.” Id. The rule adopted in 1979 is codified in substantially the same form today as Rule 412 of the North Carolina Rules of Evidence.

Nearly forty years after its adoption, the appellate courts continue to refine the scope of the rape shield statute. Several recent cases explore the rule’s limitations and the analysis a trial court must employ when a defendant charged with a sexual offense seeks to admit evidence regarding the prosecuting witness’s sexual conduct.

Domestic violence protective orders (DVPOs) are available to “persons of the opposite sex who are . . . or have been in a dating relationship,” and who are able to establish that the person that they are or were dating committed an act of domestic violence against them. Persons of the same sex who are or were in a dating relationship don’t have the same opportunity. Is that constitutional? The Supreme Court of South Carolina just addressed a related question, and its opinion suggests that the answer is no.

WRAL reports that the ordeal of a Raleigh bar owner accused of attempting to smuggle drugs out of Honduras ended Thursday when Amanda Laroque landed at RDU.  Laroque was detained by Honduran authorities last month when she went through airport security carrying a “can safe,” a fake drink can that is used to hide valuables.  Honduran authorities accused Laroque of trying to smuggle drugs out of the country and jailed her.  Tests later revealed that the can safe did not contain drugs, and, after spending several nights in a jail called “the cage,” Laroque was allowed to return to North Carolina.  Keep reading for more news.

As the Washington Post reports, the Senate confirmed Christopher A. Wray as Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation earlier this week.  Wray served as Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Criminal Division of the Justice Department from 2003 to 2005.  At the Justice Department, Wray worked under former FBI director James Comey who was serving as Deputy Attorney General during that time.  Wray was confirmed with bipartisan support, and was sworn in by Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Wednesday.  Keep reading for more news.

The Associated Press reports that the investigation into the Word of Faith Fellowship congregation in Spindale is expanding into questions of whether church members enticed Brazilians to come to North Carolina and then forced them to work without pay.  As is alleged to be the case with other church members, Brazilian former members of the church reportedly have told investigators that, in addition to being forced to work, they were subjected to physical and emotional abuse as a method of religious practice.  Keep reading for more news.

The criminal tribulations of O.J. Simpson once again captured the nation’s attention this week.  Simpson was granted parole yesterday after serving nearly nine years in prison in Nevada following his conviction on robbery and related charges arising from a 2007 incident in Las Vegas.  Simpson’s parole hearing was broadcast live across the nation and, as evidence that the truth sometimes is stranger than fiction, one member of the parole board wore a Kansas City Chiefs necktie during the proceeding.  Keep reading for more news.

WRAL reported earlier this week that Wake County District Court Judge Michael Denning determined that pretrial release conditions for thirty-two people arrested during a May protest at the Legislative Building which banned them from the building were too broad and that Denning planned to modify the conditions of release.  Yesterday, a follow-up report said Denning ruled that five protestors, including State NAACP President Rev. William Barber, would be banned from the building until their trespassing charges arising from the protest are resolved, while four other protestors may visit the building only if invited and accompanied by a lawmaker.  The varying conditions were based on the number of times a person had been charged with trespassing at the Legislative Building.  Keep reading for more news.

For a recent teaching session, I prepared an outline on terminating sex offender registration. I thought it might be helpful to a broader audience, so I posted it here [I updated the paper on July 24, 2017 to reflect a change made by S.L. 2017-158 regarding the proper venue for a petition by a person on the registry for a federal conviction].