North Carolina Criminal Law

When a Criminal Sentence Begins

November 10, 2016 Jamie Markham

Sometimes there is a delay between when the court pronounces a sentence and when the judgment is actually signed. When that happens, questions can arise about when the sentence begins. Is it when the judge says it, or when he or she signs it? Under G.S. 15A-101(4a), in criminal matters, “[j]udgment is entered when sentence … Read more

The 2016 Election

November 9, 2016November 9, 2016 Shea Denning

Wow. That was a surprise. Donald Trump has been elected to serve as the nation’s 45^th president, defying the outcome nearly all the experts predicted, in what The Washington Post called a “shocking ending” to a “traumatic campaign.”

President-elect Trump carried North Carolina by 3.8 percentage points over Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. That’s an impressive margin for a state that Republican nominee Mitt Romney carried by 2.2 percent over President Obama in 2012, and which Obama won by less than a percentage point in 2008.

What impact will a Trump presidency have on the legal issues discussed in this blog?

Establishing Probable Cause in a Search Warrant to Link the Residence to Be Searched With the Evidence to Be Seized

November 8, 2016 Bob Farb

Last week, Jeff Welty wrote a post concerning the failure to allege in a search application that the premises to be searched is the suspect’s home, and it included a discussion of State v. Parson (N.C. App., October 18, 2016). This post supplements his post by discussing the issue of establishing probable cause to link a residence to be searched with evidence to be seized, and by adding a few other comments on Parson.

Podcast Season 2 Is Here!

November 7, 2016 Jeff Welty

Beyond the Bench, the podcast of the Judicial College here at the School of Government, is back with a new season. Professor Sara DePasquale takes the reins as the host for Season 2, which explores the issue of juvenile homelessness. Sara explains that the season: focuses on neglect and the child welfare system with a … Read more

News Roundup

May 21, 2025November 4, 2016 SOG Staff

Two Iowa police officers were shot and killed early Wednesday morning in ambush attacks that made national news. As the Des Moines Register reports, Urbandale Police Officer Justin Martin and Des Moines Police Sgt. Anthony Beminio each were shot while in their vehicles. The lone suspect, Scott Michael Greene, was apprehended a few hours after the shootings. Early reports indicate that Greene had a run-in with Urbandale officers in the middle of last month after an incident at a high school football game where he waved a Confederate flag in front of a group of African-Americans and was ejected from the stadium. The stadium is located at a traffic intersection where one of the officers was shot. Keep reading for more news.

What Our Courts Were Up to the Last Time the Cubs Won the World Series

November 4, 2016November 3, 2016 Jamie Markham

I’m a big baseball fan. (A Pittsburgh Pirates fan, if you’re wondering.) And so of course I stayed up late last night to watch what turned out to be a thrilling end to an historic World Series. I hate to spoil things for those of you who get all your news—legal and otherwise—from this blog, but the Cubs won.

Who Has the Right of Way?

November 2, 2016 Shea Denning

Two vehicles, one traveling east and the other traveling south, arrive at approximately the same time at an intersection that is not marked by traffic signs or lights. Which vehicle may enter the intersection first?

When Agencies Disagree with Criminal Court Decisions

November 1, 2016 John Rubin

In criminal proceedings, court orders can affect other agencies. When the court imposes a sentence of imprisonment, the Division of Adult Correction has the responsibility of carrying it out. If the court issues a limited driving privilege in a traffic case, a person can drive even though the Division of Motor Vehicles has revoked the person’s license. A court may grant an expunction petition, requiring law enforcement agencies to destroy records of the criminal case. What happens if the affected agency believes that the order is unlawful? A recent decision, In re Timberlake (Oct. 18, 2016), provides some clarity about the procedures to follow, at least in the context of that case.

Failure to Allege, in an Application for a Search Warrant, that the Premises to Be Searched Is the Suspect’s Home

October 31, 2016 Jeff Welty

Sometimes officers have probable cause to believe that a person committed a crime, have probable cause that evidence of the crime will be found in the person’s residence, and seek a search warrant for the address at which the residence is located, but fail to include in the application a statement that the address in question is, in fact, the suspect’s home. What happens then?

News Roundup

May 21, 2025October 28, 2016 SOG Staff

The NC Department of Public Safety says that a portion of Neuse Correctional Institution was evacuated on Monday morning following a disturbance that started late Sunday afternoon. According to a press release, a small group of inmates “set two separate fires, one inside the prison’s diagnostic building and one that destroyed a storage shed.” The inmates also broke windows and damaged four dorms. Approximately 500 inmates were transferred to other prisons because of the damage. Keep reading for more news.