News Roundup
I’ve been enjoying WRAL’s website lately. The News and Observer is putting more content behind a paywall, and WRAL has had a series of interesting criminal justice stories. The most […]
Avoiding Criminal Charges by Not Coming to Court
Not showing up for court is, generally speaking, bad trial strategy. In criminal court, such behavior can result in such unpleasantness as entry of an order for arrest and the […]
RJA Oral Argument
The state supreme court heard oral argument yesterday in two cases concerning the Racial Justice Act. In the first case, Superior Court Judge Gregory Weeks struck down the death sentence […]
15A-1335: When Is a Sentence “More Severe”?
G.S. 15A-1335 provides that when a conviction or sentence imposed in superior court has been set aside on direct review or collateral attack, the court may not impose a new […]
News Roundup
Unquestionably the most shocking story of the week comes from Wake County, where an assistant district attorney’s father was kidnapped, apparently at the behest of an inmate the prosecutor had […]
Aggravating Factors in Felony Speeding to Elude Statute Are Elements for Purposes of Double Jeopardy
The North Carolina Court of Appeals in State v. Mulder, 233 N.C. App. 82 (2014), held that punishing a defendant for felony speeding to elude based upon the aggravating factors […]
New Book on Mike Nifong and the Duke Lacrosse Case
As a criminal lawyer, Durham resident, and Duke alumnus, I followed the Duke lacrosse case with more than a casual interest. Now, years after the fact, there’s a new book […]
Electronic House Arrest
Today’s post covers some of the nuts and bolts of electronic house arrest (EHA). EHA is fairly self-explanatory: in lieu of traditional incarceration, a person is confined to his or […]
A 2013 Rollback of State Procedural Protections for Defendants
Most folks who are involved in appellate litigation and post-conviction motions know about G.S. 15A-1335. For those who don’t, it is a N.C. statute providing that when a conviction or […]
News Roundup
WRAL just published this fascinating story, about North Carolina prisoners’ access to reading materials, the grounds on which access to reading materials can be denied – such as that the […]