Understanding the Epstein Case
On July 6, wealthy financier Jeffrey Epstein was arrested and charged with sex trafficking. He’s being held without bond on the charges, which were brought by the United States Attorney’s […]
News Roundup
Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens died on Tuesday in Florida at the age of 99 after suffering a stroke. As the Associated Press reports, Stevens served on […]
General Assembly Creates New Crime of Death by Distribution
Back in 2017, I wrote about murder charges premised on the unlawful distribution of drugs and what the State must prove to establish a defendant’s guilt. One element the State […]
Arrest of Judgment
When can a court arrest judgment in a case? And what does it mean to do so?
Missing Witnesses, Mistrials, and Manifest Necessity
The Fourth Circuit recently issued a decision prohibiting retrial of a defendant charged with murder following a mistrial. The government obtained the mistrial over the defendant’s objection when a key […]
How Big a Role Does Money Play in North Carolina’s Bail System?
I have discussed elsewhere criticisms and concerns asserted regarding money-based bail systems. Among other things, it is argued that money-based bail systems undermine public safety by allowing dangerous but wealthy […]
News Roundup
The major national criminal law news of the week was the arrest of Jeffrey Epstein on federal sex-trafficking charges involving underage girls. Epstein, who often is referred to as a […]
Does United States v. Haymond Impact Probation and Post-Release Supervision in North Carolina?
In United States v. Haymond, 139 S. Ct. 2369 (2019), a divided Supreme Court concluded that a federal statute was unconstitutional to the extent that it exposed the defendant to […]
Criminal Jurisdiction on the Qualla Boundary
Last month, I traveled to a hotel located on the Eastern Cherokee Indian Reservation, or Qualla Boundary, in Cherokee, North Carolina to teach at the summer conference for North Carolina […]
Supreme Court Announces New Exigency Test for Blood Draws from Unconscious DWI Suspects
Late last month, the Supreme Court decided Mitchell v. Wisconsin, 588 U.S. ___ (June 27, 2019), a case in which the petitioner argued that the State of Wisconsin violated the […]