North Carolina Criminal Law

An Appreciation of the Many Roles and Responsibilities of a District Court Judge

January 9, 2019January 8, 2019 Shea Denning

In December, the School of Government held the first week of orientation for new district court judges. The class included thirty-one new judges. Most of the judges took the bench January 1, though a handful were sworn in last year to fill vacancies by gubernatorial appointment. One of the challenges in creating an orientation program … Read more

Lawful Gun Possession and Encounters with Police

January 7, 2019 Jeff Welty

During a Terry stop, an officer who has reasonable suspicion that a suspect is armed and dangerous may frisk the suspect and may confiscate any weapons that the officer finds. Does an officer have the same authority during a traffic stop? In other words, if an officer reasonably suspects that a driver is in possession of a gun, even lawfully, may the officer confiscate the gun for the duration of the stop as a safety precaution? What about during a consensual encounter between an officer and a pedestrian?

News Roundup

December 21, 2018 Christopher Tyner

Yesterday afternoon, the House passed the bipartisan federal criminal justice reform bill known as the “First Step Act,” sending the bill to President Donald Trump who has said that he will sign it into law. The News Roundup previously discussed some of the provisions of the bill in this post. Among other things, the bill gives judges increased discretion in sentencing certain offenses and aims to place prisoners in facilities closer to their homes so that families can visit more often. This is the final blog post of the year, we’ll resume posting on Monday, January 7. Enjoy the holidays and keep reading for more news.

My London Experience

December 20, 2018 John Rubin

As part of this semester’s study abroad program, I asked the 25 Carolina students to identify and write up a memorable London experience. Having given them the nearly impossible task of picking just one experience to memorialize, it’s only fair that I do the same in my last blog post from London.

Limits on Procreation as a Condition of Probation

December 20, 2018December 19, 2018 Jamie Markham

Can a judge limit a probationer’s right to have children?

Can Solicitation Become Attempt?

June 6, 2019December 18, 2018 Phil Dixon

That in effect was the question presented in the recent N.C. Supreme Court decision in State v. Melton (Dec. 7, 2018), where the court vacated an attempted murder conviction in a murder-for-hire case. Before getting into the case, let’s review the elements of solicitation and attempt.

Second Amendment Update

December 17, 2018 Jeff Welty

Several federal circuit courts have decided Second Amendment cases over the past few months. This post summarizes them. The cases and the reasoning behind them are not all completely consistent, but collectively, the courts continue to interpret the Second Amendment as permitting substantial levels of gun control.

News Roundup

December 14, 2018 Christopher Tyner

As Charlottesville newspaper The Daily Progress reports, late last week a Virginia jury convicted James Alex Fields Jr. of first-degree murder and several other charges arising from his attack on people gathered to protest a white supremacist rally in August of last year. On Tuesday, the jury recommended that Fields be sentenced to life in prison for the offenses. In a violent bookend to an already disturbing series of events in Charlottesville, Fields drove a car into a crowd of protesters, killing Heather Heyer and injuring dozens of others. Fields also faces federal hate crime charges, though a trial date for those charges has not yet been set. Keep reading for more news.

Part 2: Double Jeopardy and Beyond

December 13, 2018 John Rubin

For our last official criminal justice class, we heard from five more teams of students about their research projects. (At the students’ request, we also scheduled an extra evening session to watch the third best movie ever made about the law and lawyers—answer at the end of this post.) Once again, the students worked on a wide range of topics and, once again, I learned from the students. Here are some quick takeaways along with a brief discussion of one of the topics—double jeopardy, or more accurately, the absence of double jeopardy protections in the UK.

What Happens When the Jury Is Instructed on the Wrong Theory?

December 12, 2018 Shea Denning

Suppose the trial court, over the defendant’s objection, instructs the jury on a theory of a crime that is not supported by the evidence. Is the defendant entitled to automatic reversal on appeal? Or, alternatively, must the appellate court evaluate whether the erroneous instruction prejudiced the defendant? The North Carolina Supreme Court answered these questions in State v. Malachi, ___ N.C. ___ (2018), published last Friday, and applied its answer in State v. Fowler, ___ N.C. ___ (2018), decided the same day.