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 […]
Can the Police Compel You to Unlock Your Phone Using Your Fingerprint?
I’ve written before about whether a court may order a person to provide a password to a computer or a passcode to a phone to enable an officer to complete […]
Deadly Force and Resisting a Public Officer
The N&O series: Deadly Force. Today the News and Observer published the last article of its four part investigative series Deadly Force, a series that chronicles numerous physical confrontations between […]
A Rare Opinion on Criminal Discovery in North Carolina
There seem to be fewer and fewer reported decisions about criminal discovery in North Carolina. A recent North Carolina Supreme Court decision finding a discovery violation by the prosecution, State […]
Sentencing Commission Recidivism Report Available
The North Carolina Sentencing and Policy Advisory Commission and the Division of Adult Correction recently released their Correctional Program Evaluation: Offenders Placed on Probation or Released from Prison in FY […]
News Roundup
The North Carolina General Assembly’s short session began Monday. On the first day of the session, supporters and opponents of HB2 held well attended dueling rallies in Raleigh according to […]