News Roundup
On Tuesday, President Donald Trump nominated Judge Brett Kavanaugh to fill Justice Anthony Kennedy’s seat on the United States Supreme Court. Kavanaugh has served on the United States Court of […]
Another New Conditional Discharge: Threats and False Reports of Mass Violence
By the end of the year, we’ll have another type of conditional discharge to add to the list collected in my previous post. The new conditional discharge is for certain […]
May a Defendant Appeal an Infraction to Superior Court?
Suppose a defendant is found responsible in district court for one of the many infractions codified in Chapter 20. Take your pick: speeding, a seat belt violation, jaywalking, improper passing, or […]
Who Goes Last?
In my previous post, I wrote about who goes first when presenting evidence at a suppression hearing or trial, and the circumstances under which the normal order of presentation could […]
Easy Come, Easy Go: Legislature Removes Affidavit Requirement for Citizen-Initiated Criminal Process
About a year ago, I wrote this post, discussing what was then a new provision in G.S. 15A-304(b): “[A]n official shall only find probable cause based solely on information provided […]
News Roundup
Late last week a man involved in a long running dispute with Annapolis newspaper the Capital Gazette stormed the paper’s newsroom with a shotgun, killing five people and wounding several […]
All the Conditional Discharges
A conditional discharge allows a defendant who pleads guilty or is found guilty to be placed on probation without entry of judgment. If the defendant succeeds on probation, the court […]
Expanded Forgiveness of a Criminal Conviction
Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to participate in a national roundtable, sponsored by the American Law Institute and National Conference of State Legislatures, on current and possible approaches […]
Examining Applicants under Oath before Issuing Search Warrants
Suppose that Officer Oxford is investigating a murder. Oxford believes that Steve Smith is the killer, and that the murder weapon is in Smith’s house. Oxford approaches Magistrate Martin with […]
News Roundup
On Wednesday, Justice Anthony Kennedy announced that he would retire from the United States Supreme Court at the end of July. Kennedy’s retirement has been long-rumored and was made official […]