Drug Dog Legal Update
North Carolina’s appellate courts have recently issued two important opinions on the use of drug dogs, and the United States Supreme Court has granted certiorari in another drug dog case. […]
Sex Crimes and Penetration
In the recent court of appeals case In re J.F., ___ N.C. App. ___, ___S.E.2d ___ (Nov. 18, 2014), the defendant argued that penetration is an essential element of sexual […]
News Roundup
An organization called Concerns of Police Survivors has designated today the first National Law Enforcement Appreciation Day. The organization argues that “[i]n light of recent negativity directed toward law enforcement […]
There Is a Tolling Donut Hole
Last year, I wrote this post asking whether the probation tolling law in former G.S. 15A-1344(d) survived a 2009 statutory change. In State v. Sitosky, decided on the last day […]
Failing to advise a defendant of his implied consent rights requires suppression of the test results . . . except when it doesn’t
In opinions spanning four decades, North Carolina’s appellate courts have suppressed chemical analysis results in impaired driving cases based on statutory violations related to their administration. When the violation consists […]
Competency and the Residual Hearsay Exception
I previously wrote (here) about the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent cert grant in Ohio v. Clark, a case in which the Court will decide whether a three-year-old child’s statements to […]
New Year’s Resolutions for Lawyers
Still looking to make a new year’s resolution or two, besides reading this blog daily? This post recaps several suggestions from the ABA and NC Lawyers Mutual.
News Roundup
This will be the last blog post of 2014. It is also a full and interesting post — if I do say so myself — as it has been quite […]
Most Serious Offense for Consolidation Purposes
When a defendant is convicted of more than one offense at the same time, the court may consolidate the offenses for judgment. The sentence for that judgment is driven by […]
DWLR + DWI Does Not (Automatically) Equal a Grossly Aggravating Factor
Author’s note: The law was amended in 2015 to alter this analysis. The amendments are discussed here. Grossly aggravating factors matter in DWI sentencing. And there’s one factor that seems […]