A Sampling of Justice Reinvestment Statistics
With Thanksgiving tomorrow, today’s post will be the last of the week. That means it is the last post before December 1, when another batch of new laws comes into […]
May the police seize and impound cars driven by people charged with minor traffic violations?
The News and Observer reported Sunday on the Hamlet Police Department’s seizure of vehicles from drivers charged with low-level traffic offenses and the subsequent selling of those vehicles as scrap […]
Sweepstakes Update
I’ve had a number of people ask me what’s going on around the state with internet sweepstakes. Below, I set out what I know, but there’s so much going on […]
News Roundup
Whoa! A very busy news week. Here’s the rundown: PD becomes DA. Public Defender Andy Womble has been appointed by Governor McCrory to fill the remainder of the term of […]
Computer Searches and Plain View
Whether the plain view doctrine makes sense in the context of computer searches, and if it doesn’t, what courts should do about it, are controversial issues. We don’t have any […]
Restitution to Insurers and the Insured
Suppose my home is broken into and many things are stolen. My insurance company compensates me for the damage to the house and the items that were taken. Two related […]
Returns and Inventories for Computer Search Warrants
More and more criminal investigations involve searches of computers and other digital devices. It is sometimes difficult to apply long-established search and seizure law to the practical realities of digital […]
Hearsay Exceptions: Present Sense Impressions & Excited Utterances
Rule 803 sets out twenty-three hearsay exceptions that apply regardless of the declarant’s availability. Two that arise with some frequency in criminal cases are present sense impressions and excited utterances. […]
News Roundup
The North Carolina Bar Association’s Criminal Justice Section had its annual awards dinner last night. As always, it was an inspiration. Senior Deputy Attorney General Jim Coman received the Peter […]
How Should the Police Respond to a Report of a Man with a Gun?
Case study: the Neenah stop. Recently in Neenah, WI, a woman called the police to report a man with a gun strapped to his back walking down the street. The […]