A UNC School of Government Blog
This blog post is divided in two parts. This is Part I. Part II will be posted tomorrow. Introduction. These posts will discuss strip searches by law enforcement officers that usually occur during investigative stops, frisks, arrests, executing search warrants, and related actions. These posts will not include strip searches at jails, which are discussed … Read more
Our family gathers at the coast for Labor Day weekend. You’d be amazed how many motor vehicle law questions my relatives can generate over the course of a few hours on the road and a few days in the sand and surf. What follows is a sampling of this weekend’s questions and my answers. 1. … Read more
Durham County Superior Court Judge Elaine Bushfan, hearing cases in Alamance County, reversed her own judgments in five cases this week, saying that the Alamance County District Attorney’s office was too “harsh,” and that she would no longer hear criminal cases in Alamance County. Three of the five cases were habitual felon prosecutions. District Attorney … Read more
School started back this week across the state, which means that many school buses are traveling the roadways. Buses in my neighborhood hit the pavement early—one drove by this morning shortly after 6 a.m.—and often still are completing their routes when commuters begin to drive home from work. The advent of a new school year … Read more
With another legislative session in the books, it’s time once again for a revised sex offender flow chart. The revised chart is available here. The changes are summarized below. New reportable offenses. Session Law 2013-33 added human trafficking under G.S. 14-43.11 to the list of sexually violent offenses that require sex offender registration, but only … Read more
When may rap lyrics written by a defendant be admitted as evidence of guilt? That question has been in the news quite a bit lately as a result of a decision by the Nevada Supreme Court. (For example, see this ABC News story, or this Washington Post piece.) There’s also some North Carolina authority on … Read more
I recently finished an Administration of Justice Bulletin about the habitual felon, violent habitual felon, and habitual breaking and entering laws. It’s a substantial expansion and revision of a paper I wrote in 2008. I creatively named it North Carolina’s Habitual Felon, Violent Habitual Felon, and Habitual Breaking and Entering Laws. It’s available here, for … Read more
The DWI blood test backlog at the state crime lab has started to receive media attention. TheWinston-Salem Journal recently ran this editorial, arguing that the situation is “unacceptable” and reflects a “management failure by the state.” The piece notes that the lab has trouble retaining analysts, who often receive more lucrative offers in the private … Read more
The line between a consensual encounter and a seizure can be blurry. Generally, there is no seizure when an officer simply approaches a person and asks the person a question. But there is a seizure when an officer approaches a person with a show of authority that would make a reasonable person feel that he … Read more
The North Carolina Court of Appeals decided its first breath-testing source code case yesterday. The court in State v. Marino affirmed the trial court’s determination that the defendant had no right to examine the source code for the Intoximeter EC IR II, the instrument used to analyze his breath alcohol concentration after he was arrested … Read more