More about What Is and Isn’t Absconding
Two new cases from the court of appeals, both involving defendants named Johnson, shed more light on the meaning of “absconding” from probation.
State v. Osteen: Court of Appeals Approves Admission of Lay and Expert Opinion Testimony Regarding Drug Impairment
Proving that a driver was impaired by alcohol is not all that difficult, particularly when the driver submits to a breath test and the result is .08 or more. Proving […]
Is Misdemeanor Trespassing and Misdemeanor Shoplifting Really a Felony?
The web has several stories about large retail stores banning people caught shoplifting from returning, sometimes for life, sometimes from all of the stores in the chain. Sometimes the incident […]
New Bulletin on Juvenile Interrogations
Nearly five years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court decided J.D.B. v. North Carolina, a case arising from the police interrogation of a middle school student in Chapel Hill. In a […]
News Roundup
The unexpected death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia continues to dominate the national news this week. USA Today reports that the high court appeared to be split in a […]
When CRV Is Worse than Revocation
Some felony probationers ordered to serve a period of confinement in response to violation (CRV) wind up spending more time behind bars than they would have if their probation been […]
Who Can Be a Supreme Court Justice?
My daughter came home from elementary school last week with notecards seeking support for her nomination to serve as a justice on the U.S. Supreme Court. I think that is […]
North Carolina Court of Appeals Issues Ruling on a Strip Search by Law Enforcement Officers
In 2013, I wrote two posts on strip searches by law enforcement officers, which are available here and here. This post discusses the first published North Carolina appellate court strip […]
Three Ways to Lose the Right to Counsel?
In an opinion last week, the court of appeals helpfully summarized the law about how a defendant may lose the right to counsel, and may have recognized a new way […]
News Roundup
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia died during the weekend at a hunting ranch in Texas. As the Washington Post reports, his unexpected death has enormous political and legal consequences. […]