Latest posts in category Uncategorized on North Carolina Criminal Law Blog

Every year as I do presentations about new criminal law legislation, a smaller piece of legislation catches my eye. Invariably as I look into the legislation, I learn about the concerns that led to the legislation. An example this year is S.L. 2016-113 sec. 3 (S 770), which allows the culling of feral swine—that is, wild boar—from aircraft. At first glance, the description conjures up images of hunting parties taking to the sky to go after wild boar. That’s not what the legislation contemplates. Taking wild animals from or with the use of aircraft remains a misdemeanor under North Carolina law. See G.S. 113-191.1(b)(1); G.S. 113-135(a). The legislation adds a new statute, G.S. 113-299, creating a narrow exception from this prohibition for wildlife officers and similar federal employees. What’s behind the legislation? What does it allow? What doesn’t it allow?

In a recent interview with Katie Couric, Justice Ginsburg discussed San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick and his practice of kneeling during the national anthem to protest racial injustice. She described Kaepernick’s conduct as “dumb and disrespectful,” compared it to flag burning, and said “I think it’s a terrible thing to do, but I wouldn’t lock a person up for doing it.” Is it OK for a judge to say that?

Hurricane Matthew hit Eastern North Carolina hard over the weekend.  Twenty North Carolinians lost their lives and many communities experienced severe flooding.  The Fayetteville Observer has extensive coverage of the aftermath of the storm, including remarkable aerial photographs of flooded Lumberton.  Governor McCrory has activated the Hurricane Matthew Relief Fund and the North Carolina Department of Justice is warning residents of areas damaged by the hurricane to be wary of scams in the wake of the storm.  A number of courthouses are closed because of the storm and the AOC has a list of closings available here.  Best wishes for a speedy recovery from the hurricane; keep reading for more news.

Generally, officers may obtain a valid consent to search only from a person whose reasonable expectation of privacy may be invaded by the proposed search. Sometimes two or more people—for example, spouses or roommates—share a reasonable expectation of privacy in the same place. Generally, either person may give valid consent to an officer. United States v. Matlock, 415 U.S. 164 (1974) (common authority over premises found). However, as discussed below, an exception to this general rule may exist when a physically-present occupant objects.

Reuters reported this week that Yahoo “secretly built a custom software program to search all of its customers’ incoming emails for specific information provided by U.S. intelligence officials.”  Reuters says that the government sent Yahoo a classified request to search the email accounts, likely under the authority of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.  The scope of the surveillance is unprecedented and involved “hundreds of millions of Yahoo Mail accounts.”  The revelation comes just a month after the company announced that state-sponsored hackers stole information from 500 million Yahoo accounts in 2014.  Change those passwords and keep reading for more news.

The officer-involved shooting of Keith Lamont Scott and the associated protests in Charlotte continue to be in the local and national news.  Mecklenburg County Public Defender Kevin Tully gave his view on the unrest in Charlotte late last week on NPR’s All Things Considered.  The Charlotte Observer reports that the Charlotte Police Department has announced that it will “reverse course and be more open about releasing videos of police shootings to victims’ families and the public.”  The move comes after the department was reluctant to release footage of the Scott shooting in the days immediately following the incident.  The Observer report notes that a new state law regarding law enforcement recordings, S.L. 2016-88, goes into effect on Saturday.   As the Observer reports, the new law is generating controversy; some say it reduces law enforcement transparency and accountability while others view it as an improvement over the current patchwork of local policies regarding recordings.  Keep reading for more news.

Protests erupted in Charlotte this week in response to an officer-involved shooting of a black man, Keith Lamont Scott, on Tuesday afternoon.  The protests, to which law enforcement officers have responded by donning riot gear and using tear gas to disperse crowds, are making national news.  One person was shot during the protests on Wednesday night.  The Charlotte Observer reports that Governor McCrory has declared a state of emergency for the city and has deployed the National Guard and Highway Patrol troopers to assist local law enforcement.  At the time of writing, there are conflicting reports regarding the circumstances of the Scott shooting.  The Charlotte Police Department said that Scott was armed with a handgun when he was shot; some witnesses claim that he was reading a book.  Keep reading for more news.

The Office of Indigent Defense Services (IDS) is responsible for providing legal representation for indigent defendants and respondents in North Carolina. It is a small agency with a big job, spanning representation in criminal prosecutions, parental rights proceedings, involuntary commitment cases, and other cases affecting important rights. This blog post introduces Whitney Fairbanks, the new assistant director and general counsel of IDS. That position is often the point of contact for lawyers, court officials, and others involved with indigent defense. The following is from an interview I conducted of Whitney last week.

Trial began this week in Oregon for Ammon Bundy and six codefendants facing various charges stemming from their armed occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge earlier this year.  The Oregonian reports that people began lining up at 7 a.m. on Tuesday to get a seat inside the courtroom. According to USA Today, each of the seven defendants is charged with conspiring to impede federal land managers through force and intimidation, and five defendants are charged with firearm offenses.  In the waning days of the standoff, the de facto spokesman for the occupation, LaVoy Finicum, was shot and killed after he fled a traffic stop and, in an ensuing confrontation with police officers and FBI agents, appeared to be preparing to draw a handgun.  Keep reading for more news.

The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports that a Minnesota man, Danny Heinrich, confessed in federal court to abducting, sexually assaulting, and killing Jacob Wetterling nearly 27 years ago. Heinrich’s confession was part of a child pornography plea deal in which he will not be prosecuted for his crimes against Wetterling. Following Wetterling’s abduction, Congress enacted the Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act which required states to implement sex offender registries. Keep reading for more news.