Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays the School of Government from swift completion of their case summaries. This post summarizes opinions issued by the North…
…court opinions on self-defense and related defenses, such as defense of others and defense of habitation. The book’s approach reflected that North Carolina was a common law state when it…
…right to refuse testing as “a matter of grace” granted by the legislature and not a constitutional right. State v. Howren, 312 N.C. 454, 457 (1984). Garcia-Cepero , an unpublished…
…danger of a defendant contracting COVID-19 in a correctional facility. Few appellate courts have considered the impact the pandemic might have on sentencing, but some early opinions from state and…
…long the court is willing to listen. Yep, you’ve got a “sovereign citizen” on your hands. Readers may have different opinions on the best way to handle these defendants in…
This post summarizes the published criminal opinions from the North Carolina Court of Appeals released on August 2, 2022. This summary will be added to Smith’s Criminal Case Compendium, a…
…e.g., State v. Smith, 860 S.E.2d 51 (2021) (unpublished) (citing this framework from Hobbs). The Hobbs court clarified the amount of evidence required to succeed on a Batson challenge at…
This post summarizes the published criminal opinions from the North Carolina Court of Appeals released on March 5, 2025. These summaries will be added to Smith’s Criminal Case Compendium, a…
…provides that opportunity and preserves the defendant’s rights. State v. Williams, 41 N.C. App. 287 (1979). Now, to this month’s two opinions from the Court of Appeals. The first, State…
This post summarizes opinions issued by the North Carolina Court of Appeals on August 18, 2020. The trial court’s inquiry of the defendant regarding her waiver of counsel satisfied the…
