This post summarizes the published criminal opinions from the North Carolina Court of Appeals released on April 18, 2023. These summaries will be added to Smith’s Criminal Case Compendium, a free and searchable database of case summaries from 2008 to the present.
The Citation Project – Final Report
Are you thinking about implementing a citation in lieu of arrest policy? Have you been implementing a policy and want to improve it? The UNC School of Government Criminal Justice Innovation Lab recently released a final report for the Citation Project, which included four recommendations for those interested in this work. This post summarizes the report and those recommendations.
How Can a Party Show Authorship of a Social Media Post or Other Electronic Communication?
Suppose that a defendant is charged with possessing fentanyl with the intent to sell it. The state’s evidence includes a Facebook direct message, purportedly from the defendant to an informant, saying “just got some China Girl, you want any?” An officer took a photograph of the direct message as it appeared on the informant’s smartphone, and everyone is satisfied that the photograph fairly and accurately depicts the message. But the defendant objects to the introduction of the message on the grounds that there’s no way to be sure that he wrote it. How might the state respond?
News Roundup
A 21-year-old Massachusetts man has been arrested in connection with the recent leak of classified documents concerning the war in Ukraine. His name is Jack Teixeira, and he is an IT specialist and a member of the Air National Guard. WRAL reports here that “Attorney General Merrick Garland said he is to be charged with removing or transmitting classified national defense information, a crime under the Espionage Act.” Keep reading for more news.
Introducing a Defendant’s Medical Records in a DWI Trial
I have previously written about how the State may obtain the medical records of a person suspected of or charged with impaired driving. This post focuses on the requirements for admitting those records at trial.
Case Summaries: N.C. Supreme Court (Apr. 6, 2023)
This post summarizes the published criminal opinions from the Supreme Court of North Carolina released on April 6, 2023. These summaries will be added to Smith’s Criminal Case Compendium, a free and searchable database of case summaries from 2008 to the present.
Case Summaries – N.C. Court of Appeals (April 4, 2023)
This post summarizes the published criminal opinions from the North Carolina Court of Appeals released on April 4, 2023. These summaries will be added to Smith’s Criminal Case Compendium, a free and searchable database of case summaries from 2008 to the present.
Survey: Pretrial Supervision & Services in Your Community
The UNC School of Government Criminal Justice Innovation Lab frequently gets questions from stakeholders about the scope of pretrial supervision & support services across the state. We are hoping to compile information about the availability of different pretrial supervision & support services, including programs like GPS monitoring, case management, completing risk assessments, and more. Please … Read more
48-Hour Rule Refresher
Pretrial release is generally set by magistrates at a defendant’s initial appearance. As a special approach to setting conditions of pretrial release, the “48-hour rule,” as it is known in domestic violence cases, shifts that responsibility to judges. The rule comes from G.S. 15A-534.1, which provides that a judge rather than a magistrate must set a defendant’s pretrial release conditions during the first 48 hours after arrest for certain offenses. The 48-hour rule generates a lot of questions. Below, I have answered some fundamental questions that have arisen with this rule.