A UNC School of Government Blog
A defendant’s prior North Carolina juvenile adjudications never count for sentencing points. That is true for felonies and misdemeanors alike. The definition of a “prior conviction” in Structured Sentencing (G.S. 15A-1340.11(7)) includes only a previous “conviction” for a “crime.” By law in North Carolina, a juvenile adjudication is not a conviction at all, and so … Read more
The television news magazine 20/20 aired video footage last fall of North Carolina law enforcement officers speeding on Interstate 40 near Raleigh. Reporters followed the police vehicles to determine whether they were chasing a suspect, rushing to a crime scene, or otherwise involved in an emergency. None were. One officer drove directly to a doughnut … Read more
Last year, I wrote a paper about North Carolina’s habitual felon, violent habitual felon, and habitual breaking and entering laws. Around the time the paper came out, the General Assembly passed S.L. 2013-369, a broad bill concerning firearm regulations. The new law adds a new habitual offense, the offense of armed habitual felon. I’ve had … Read more
In my last blog post on hearsay exceptions, I discussed the business records exception. Here, I’ll address the hearsay exception for public records and reports. Rule 803(8) provides a hearsay exception for “[r]ecords, reports, statements, or data compilations, in any form, of public offices or agencies, setting forth: (A) the activities of the office or … Read more
WRAL reports here on the top local story this week: the SBI is “looking into allegations that former Wake County court employees improperly released jail bondsmen from their obligations to pay bond forfeitures.” It sounds as though criminal charges may be forthcoming. Other sources indicate that one or more employees of the clerk’s office have … Read more
The New York Times reported earlier this week that driving under the influence of marijuana is significantly less risky than driving with a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.08. That’s a good thing, since the Times also reported that impairment from marijuana is difficult to detect using the current battery of standardized field sobriety tests and difficult … Read more
Continuing my series on commonly used hearsay exceptions, we arrive, in this post, at the business records exception. This one comes up a lot in criminal cases. Here are the basics. Covered Records. The exception applies to “a memorandum, report, record, or data compilation, in any form, of acts, events, conditions, opinions, or diagnoses.” N.C. … Read more
In a series of blog posts, I’ve been tackling the most common hearsay exceptions. This post focuses on the Rule 803(5) exception for recorded recollections. N.C. Rule 803(5) contains a hearsay exception for “[a] memorandum or record concerning a matter about which a witness once had knowledge but now has insufficient recollection to enable him … Read more
Today’s post is about a recurrent question related to jail credit for periods of confinement in response to violation (CRV). First, a 30-second refresher on the basics of CRV. When a probationer commits a violation other than a new criminal offense or absconding, the court may order a period of confinement in response to violation. … Read more
The photo accompanying this post shows me with Google Glass, a wearable computing device. UNC has a pair and I’m testing them for a couple days to help me think about whether such devices might be useful for us or for the government officials with whom we work. This post summarizes my initial impressions. What’s … Read more