Twenty-Five Year Review of Sentences to Life Without Parole
I have started to get questions about G.S. 15A-1380.5, a repealed statute that used to provide for judicial review of sentences to life without parole after 25 years of imprisonment. […]
Blanket Objection by State to Fact-Findings Sufficient to Trigger De Novo Review in DWI Case
If you decide to read yesterday’s court of appeals opinion in State v. Miller, ___ N.C. App. ___ (May 17, 2016) do yourself a favor and skip to page 9. […]
May an Officer Assume a False Identity Online in Order to “Friend” a Suspect?
Officers are allowed to misrepresent their identities in the course of their investigations: they may pose as drug buyers, or prostitutes, or members of an organized crime syndicate. Is the […]
Fourth Circuit: North Carolina Assaults Don’t Count as “Misdemeanor Crimes of Domestic Violence” for Purposes of Firearm Prohibition
It is a federal crime for a person who has been convicted of a “misdemeanor crime of domestic violence” to possess a gun. 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(9). A “misdemeanor crime […]
News Roundup
This week the Tenth Circuit ruled that a condition of supervised release that required a man convicted of distributing child pornography to complete a sex offender treatment program violated the […]
Egregious Aggravation Is Unconstitutional
In 2008 the General Assembly created the new crimes of rape and sexual offense with a child by an adult offender (G.S. 14-27.2A and -27.4A, respectively). S.L. 2008-117. They have […]
Is it Legal to Keep a King Cobra as a Pet?
When news broke last week that 21-year-old Orange County resident Ali Iyoob had been bitten by his “pet” King Cobra, I had three thoughts. Who has a pet King Cobra? […]
Court of Appeals Rules That Officer Had Reasonable Suspicion to Extend Traffic Stop
Jeff Welty in his post here yesterday discussed last week’s North Carolina Court of Appeals ruling in State v. Bedient. Today, I will discuss another ruling decided on the same […]
Court of Appeals Finds Extension of Traffic Stop Unsupported by Reasonable Suspicion
Last week, the court of appeals decided State v. Bedient, a significant post-Rodriguez opinion on traffic stops. The court ruled that an officer lacked reasonable suspicion to extend a stop […]
News Roundup
Earlier this year, the News Roundup noted that the United States Supreme Court held in Hurst v. Florida that Florida’s capital sentencing scheme was unconstitutional under the Sixth Amendment because […]