The Right to Be Present at Sentencing
A North Carolina defendant has a common law right to be personally present when a criminal sentence is pronounced. That right is separate from the constitutional right to be present […]
Free Legal Research
Now that I have your attention . . . . Ever wonder what happens to those case summaries that you receive from me by email? (If you’re not getting them […]
News Roundup
Several grand juries have recently considered whether to charge white police officers with killing black men. We’ve already discussed the case in Ferguson, Missouri on this blog. Wednesday, a Staten […]
Assembly Line Justice
Have you ever been convicted of or pleaded nolo contendere (no contest) to any violation of the law other than minor traffic tickets? Millions of people, many of whom were […]
Handling Jury Trial Waivers
As of December 1, 2014, North Carolina criminal defendants may waive their right to a jury trial in superior court and instead opt for a bench trial. This is because […]
Authenticating Social Media Evidence
One of my all-time favorite emails was received from a prosecutor who was handling a drug trafficking case. The email included a picture, plucked from what purported to be the […]
Prior Possession of Drug Paraphernalia
It’s December 1. That means a number of new laws come into effect today. WRAL has a good rundown here, while the School’s annual summary of legislation of interest to […]
News Roundup
Short week, short news roundup. National attention remains focused on Ferguson, Missouri, where attorneys for Michael Brown’s family have weighed in on the prosecutor’s handling of the grand jury proceedings […]
Ferguson and the Prosecutor’s Approach to the Grand Jury
Yesterday, the grand jury in St. Louis County, Missouri , declined to indict officer Darren Wilson in connection with the fatal shooting of Michael Brown. Some commentators have criticized the […]
A New Addition to the School of Government’s Indigent Defense Manual Series
Emily Coward and I are glad to share a new resource with you: a reference manual entitled Raising Issues of Race in North Carolina Criminal Cases. If you are a […]