Is Sports Betting Legal Now? Understanding Murphy v. NCAA
The Supreme Court of the United States decided Murphy v. NCAA today, and the headlines suggest that the opinion has rendered sports betting legal nationwide. The reality is a little […]
News Roundup
On Monday, the New Yorker reported that four women have accused New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman of inflicting physical violence and other abuse upon them in the context of […]
A Visit to the Sex Offender Accountability and Responsibility Program
Yesterday I went to Lillington to teach a class for the inmates in the North Carolina prison system’s Sex Offender Accountability and Responsibility (SOAR) program. I’d like to share a […]
Brawley, Belk’s, and Charging Crimes in Modern, Southern Style
Belk Department Stores are the Bloomingdales of North Carolina. If someone says they are going to Belk (or, more often, “Belk’s”), you know that they are heading into town to […]
DNA Test Results: Probability vs. Fallacy
The State of North Carolina goes to trial against Donnie Defendant, who is alleged to be the infamous “Tarheel State Killer” and charged with committing a series of brutal assaults […]
Officers’ Applications for Investigative Orders and the Unauthorized Practice of Law
May a law enforcement officer submit an application for an investigative order to a judicial official, or does that constitute the unauthorized practice of law? The answer depends on the […]
News Roundup
Late last week a Pennsylvania jury convicted Bill Cosby of three counts of sexually assaulting Andrea Constand in 2004. A prior trial involving the same offenses ended in a deadlocked […]
Failure to Include Known Facts in a Search Warrant Application Can Undermine Probable Cause
When a search warrant application fails to establish probable cause, the problem isn’t normally that the applicant didn’t have probable cause. It’s that the applicant failed to include important facts […]
State v. Eldred: Court of Appeals Evaluates Sufficiency of Circumstantial Evidence of DWI
Consider whether the following facts are sufficient to support a conviction for DWI: The scene. Law enforcement officers in Avery County respond to a reported accident on the highway leading […]
A Lose-Lose Situation for “Felonious” Defendants Who Act in Self-Defense
I previously wrote here about the statutory felony disqualification for self-defense in North Carolina, adopted in 2011 by the General Assembly alongside expanded castle protections and clearer stand-your-ground rights for […]