As WRAL reports, the General Assembly passed and Governor Roy Cooper signed legislation that repeals the 2017 law designed to reduce the number of seats on the Court of Appeals from 15 to 12 over time. When it was passed, the plan to reduce the number of seats on the court caused Judge Doug McCullough to unexpectedly retire from the bench so that his seat would not be eliminated. The enactment of the new law keeping the number of seats on the court at 15 is intended to end litigation over the controversial measure.
Crimes Supplement. Jessie Smith’s North Carolina Crimes: A Guidebook on the Elements of Crime is an incredibly useful resource for people who work in criminal law and it is important to keep your copy up to date with the yearly cumulative supplement. The 2018 version of the supplement recently was released and it includes access to the online version of the full book through May 1, 2020.
NC Judicial Branch employees may procure copies through the AOC’s online store. Contact the Purchasing Services Division (purchasing@nccourts.org) with questions. The AOC requests prior approval from division managers before ordering through the AOC’s online store.
Basketball Crimes. WRAL reports that three men, one a former Adidas executive, involved in a conspiracy to pay top college basketball recruits to go to Adidas-sponsored schools were sentenced to federal prison this week. Late last year, the men were convicted of conspiracy to commit wire fraud arising from illegal payments made to families of recruits to Louisville, Kansas, and NC State.
Representative Charged. WLOS reports that a criminal summons has been issued for state Rep. Cody Henson that charges him with cyber stalking. The report says that District Attorney Greg Newman is recusing himself from the matter and will ask the state attorney general to prosecute the case.
Rushing Confirmed. WLOS also reports that Alison Jones Rushing, a native of Flat Rock, recently was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as a judge on the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals. Rushing is a partner at Washington law firm Williams & Connolly. Rushing was confirmed along party lines.
Manafort Sentenced. The New York Times reports that Paul Manafort was sentenced to 47 months in federal prison yesterday for the financial fraud offenses for which he was convicted last year. The sentence is below advisory sentencing guidelines. Manafort will be sentenced next week on conspiracy charges that he pleaded guilty to after being convicted by a jury of the financial fraud offenses. The conspiracy charges carry a maximum penalty of five years according to the Times report.
Gardener Plants Traps. If you are an enemy of now-deceased German gardener Bernhard Graumann then you need to be wary of booby traps around your property. USA Today says that police in Germany are investigating whether Graumann, who was found dead late last week, planted explosives at the homes of people he was on bad terms with. In a statement, police asked anyone who had “a problematic private or business relationship” with Graumann to contact them immediately.
A cyberstalking warrant for Rep. Cody Henderson, huh? I wonder if the arresting officers made him give up his DNA as the statute requires. Or if he was even arrested at all.
NC’s cyberstalking law is a piece of work by shallowpated draftscritters.
Any halfwit lawyer knows the statute is facially unconstitutional, and as a matter of law Federal Judge Ronald B. Leighton has recently declared a similar State of Washington statute unconstitutional.
BTW, It’s not Cody Henderson. His last name is “HENSON.”