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We have posted regularly during the COVID-19 pandemic about emergency directives entered by the Chief Justice pursuant to G.S. 7A-39(b)(2) that establish procedures and protocols governing the continuing operation of the courts. Last month’s post reviewed the status of directives then in place, noting their varying expiration dates. Last week, the Chief Justice entered an omnibus renewal order, which included all emergency directives currently in effect and placed all but one of them on the same expiration cycle. This post will briefly review those directives and other aspects of the September 15, 2020 order.

On Tuesday, the city of Louisville announced a settlement agreement in a wrongful death lawsuit brought by the family of Breonna Taylor, a Black woman who was killed by police as they served a search warrant at her home in March.  The city agreed to pay Taylor’s family $12 million and to make changes to Louisville Metro Police policy and practice.  The police reforms include mandatory commanding officer review of all search warrants, mandatory EMS/paramedic presence for the execution of all search warrants, and measures to increase officer engagement with the community.  Keep reading or more on this story and other news.

This post summarizes an opinion issued by the North Carolina Court of Appeals on September 15, 2020.

The Administrative Office of the Courts has issued a new form, AOC-CR-415, through which a person can make a motion for relief from costs, fines, and other monetary obligations. The form also doubles as the order through which a judge can rule on the motion.

This post summarizes criminal law and related opinions decided during August 2020 by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.

A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of welcoming our new colleague Brittany Williams to the School of Government. Today, I have the honor of announcing another colleague’s return to the criminal law fold.  After more than two decades of serving as an administrator at the School – most recently as the School’s Senior Associate Dean — Tom Thornburg has returned to traditional faculty work, where he will focus on magistrates and their needs in the area of criminal law and procedure. Tom will work closely with our colleague Dona Lewandowski, whose work focuses on magistrates’ civil responsibilities.

WLOS reports that Henderson County Sheriff’s Deputy Ryan Hendrix died yesterday after being shot while responding to the scene of a car break-in where gunfire had been exchanged by the owner of the car and the person breaking into it.  Early Thursday morning, deputies responded to the Mountain Home community in Hendersonville where a resident reported that someone was breaking into his car, where he kept a gun.  They found Robert Ray Doss, Jr., in a nearby truck and made contact with him.  After first appearing to cooperate with the deputies, Doss fired a shot that hit Hendrix.  Other deputies at the scene then shot and killed Doss.  Hendrix is a Marine veteran who has been with the department since 2012.  Keep reading for more news.

If a defendant has fully served a term of imprisonment, can he or she be further imprisoned for not paying a fine or costs?

Protests in Portland, Oregon, turned deadly over the weekend when a man was shot on the street following a clash between supporters of President Donald Trump and people demonstrating against racial disparities in policing.  On Saturday, a group of Trump supporters drove vehicles in a caravan around Portland while flying flags and otherwise expressing their support for the president in the upcoming election.  Though the caravan route was meant to bypass downtown Portland, where protests have been ongoing since the killing of George Floyd in late May, some participants departed from the route and drove downtown where conflict broke out.  Late in the evening, a member of the caravan, Aaron “Jay” Danielson was fatally shot in the chest by a gunman who has not yet been identified.  Keep reading for more on this story and other news.

This post summarizes opinions issued by the North Carolina Court of Appeals on September 1, 2020.