Latest posts in category Uncategorized on North Carolina Criminal Law Blog

The big news of the week was President Donald Trump’s unexpected removal of James Comey as FBI director.  The News Hour has an overview of the situation here.  FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe will take over for Comey until a new director is appointed by President Trump and confirmed by the Senate.  There have been seven full-time directors of the Bureau since 1935; this is only the second time that a director has been fired.  Keep reading for more news.

The Charleston Post and Courier reports that Michael Slager, a former North Charleston police officer who shot and killed Walter Scott in 2015, pleaded guilty this week to a federal criminal charge of deprivation of rights under the color of law.  The incident involving Slager and Scott was captured on video which appeared to show Slager shooting at Scott’s back after a scuffle.  As the News Roundup previously noted, a homicide case against Slager ended in a mistrial late last year.  As part of the plea deal, other state and federal charges pending against Slager will be dismissed.  Keep reading for more news.

By administrative regulation, North Carolina’s jails are required to have written policies and procedures on inmate rules and discipline. 10A NCAC 14J .0203(a)(5). The only thing the jail regulations tell us about the substance of those policies and procedures is that they may not use food as a reward or punishment. 10A NCAC 14J .0902. Beyond that, the framework for how a jail should handle inmate disciplinary procedures is a question of constitutional due process. A recent case from the Fourth Circuit reminds us what process is due when a jail responds to alleged misbehavior by an inmate.

There was tragic news from Bertie Correctional Institution this week where Sergeant Meggan Lee Callahan died Wednesday evening after being attacked by an inmate.  Craig Wissink, who is serving a life sentence for murder, is suspected of killing Callahan, according to this report from the Charlotte Observer.  State facilities have been directed to fly North Carolina flags at half-staff until sunset today in tribute to Callahan.

North Carolina requires certain people to register as sex offenders in North Carolina for crimes committed in other states. But what if a person has completed his or her term of registration in another state before moving here? Can North Carolina require the person to register again?

A shocking murder transfixed the nation this week and led to a multi-state manhunt that ended Tuesday with the perpetrator’s suicide.  In Cleveland on Sunday, Steve W. Stephens posted a video to Facebook where he shoots and kills Robert Godwin Sr., a stranger to Stephens seemingly targeted at random.  The News Hour has an overview of the story here.  After a two-day manhunt, a McDonalds employee in Pennsylvania recognized Stephens and called police.  Following a brief chase ended by a PIT maneuver, Stephens killed himself.  Keep reading for more news.

The News & Observer reports that the General Assembly has passed a bill that reduces the number of judges on the North Carolina Court of Appeals from fifteen to twelve.  The bill is controversial – supporters say that fewer judges are needed because the workload of the Court of Appeals has declined over the past decade while opponents say that the intent of the bill is to limit Governor Roy Cooper’s ability to replace judges who are approaching mandatory retirement.  The legislation is House Bill 239, which Jeff mentioned a few weeks ago in a post about the court’s caseload.

This is the last post of the week as the SOG is closed tomorrow for a holiday, keep reading for more news.

Arkansas is preparing to execute eight death row prisoners over the course of eleven days later this month in an effort to carry out death sentences before one of the drugs the state uses for lethal injection expires.  NPR has an overview of the situation here.  The plan, which involves executing two prisoners a day, is being criticized on various grounds including that it diminishes the significance of the punishment, risks botched executions, exposes prison staff to significant stress, and leaves insufficient time for clemency appeals.  Keep reading for more news.

The Associated Press reports that North Carolina has become the first state in the nation to require all attorneys, regardless of practice area, to reveal any credible evidence or information that creates a reasonable likelihood that a person convicted of a crime is innocent.  The disclosure requirement was adopted earlier this month as Rule of Professional Conduct 8.6 – “Information About a Possible Wrongful Conviction.”  Keep reading for more news.

A week ago today, I sat in the gallery of the United States Supreme Court with twenty North Carolina district court judges listening to Chief Justice John Roberts announce the court’s opinion in Endrow v. Douglas County School District. The unanimous opinion, in which the court reversed the Tenth Circuit’s holding that a child’s Individual Education Plan (IEP) satisfies federal law as long as it is calculated to confer an educational benefit that is “merely more than de minimis” quickly became the topic of questioning later that morning in the confirmation hearing for Supreme Court nominee and current Tenth Circuit Judge Neil Gorsuch. Listening to the Chief Justice explain the court’s reasoning was fascinating, and it was thrilling to have a bird’s eye view as the news traveled through the city and the nation. This experience was just one part of the North Carolina Judicial College’s inaugural Supreme Court Seminar for district court judges, which gave some of our state’s most experienced jurists an opportunity to consider the role of the nation’s highest court and the rule of law in our democracy, and to reflect upon their own judicial role.