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 […]
Lab Fees Are a Cost, Not Restitution
Laboratory expenses for analysis of controlled substances used to be ordered as restitution. Since 2002, they have been a court cost. There is a difference.
News Roundup
Two incidents of mass murder made national headlines this week, one occurred in Nashville, Tennessee, and the other in Toronto, Canada. Early Sunday morning, Travis Reinking killed four people and […]
2018 Sentencing Commission Recidivism Report Available
The North Carolina Sentencing and Policy Advisory Commission recently released its biennial Correctional Program Evaluation—known better as the Recidivism Report. The report, prepared in conjunction with the Division of Adult […]
When May the District Attorney be Taken Off the Case?
North Carolina is divided into 44 prosecutorial districts. Each is headed by an elected district attorney or, the case of a mid-term vacancy, a district attorney appointed by the governor. […]