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 […]
United States Supreme Court Rules that Reasonable Suspicion May Be Based on Reasonable Mistakes of Law
Shea blogged here about State v. Heien, the case in which the court of appeals ruled that having one burned-out brake light was not a violation of G.S. 20-129 and […]
US Supreme Court to Decide Whether Child’s Statements to Teacher Were Testimonial
In early October the Supreme Court granted certiorari in an Ohio case, State v. Clark, 999 N.E.2d 592 (Ohio 2013), cert. granted __ U.S. __, 135 S. Ct. 43 (2014), […]
News Roundup
The nation and the state continue to discuss events in Ferguson, Missouri and in Staten Island, New York. One direct impact of the controversy in North Carolina is that the […]
Go Ahead, Test Me
Most people stopped on suspicion of impaired driving would rather avoid the trip to the police station. Some suspects attempt to dispel officers’ suspicions by answering questions about whether they have been […]
New Ethics Opinion on Incarcerated Defendants’ Right to Review Discovery
Many criminal defense lawyers are reluctant to give incarcerated clients copies of discovery materials. Lawyers may worry that the materials will be stolen by other inmates, who will then use […]