A UNC School of Government Blog
Rule 404(b) is a rule of inclusion subject to one exception: the evidence must be excluded if its only probative value is to show that the defendant had the propensity or disposition to commit the charged offense. Evidence of other crimes, wrongs, or acts is admissible, however, for other purposes. In this post, my third … Read more
I recently finished Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s autobiography, My Beloved World. It’s a terrific book and an interesting companion to another outstanding Supreme Court memoir, Justice Clarence Thomas’s My Grandfather’s Son. In a nutshell, My Beloved World traces Justice Sotomayor’s life from her early childhood in the Bronx through her confirmation as a federal district court … Read more
This week, the General Assembly ratified SB 117, or Lily’s Law, which adds the following provision to the murder statute, G.S. 14-17: “For the purposes of this section, it shall constitute murder where a child is born alive but dies as a result of injuries inflicted prior to the child being born alive.” The bill … Read more
Even the greenest of prosecutors knows to ask it. And all officers, from rookie to veteran, know how to answer. Rare is the impaired driving case without it. What’s the it? The opinion question, of course. You’ll find the following exchange recorded in many a DWI transcript. Q: Did you form an opinion, satisfactory to … Read more
A couple of this blog’s recent Friday News Roundups have linked offbeat stories about contempt and cellphones. In the first a Michigan judge held himself in contempt and ordered a $25 fine when his cellphone rang in court. The second story was the federal Sixth Circuit upholding a 30-day contempt sentence for a courtroom spectator … Read more
In this second post on Rule 404(b) evidence [editor’s note: the first post in this occasional series is here], I’ll address a point that sometimes gets overlooked in the admissibility analysis: In order for Rule 404(b) evidence to be relevant, there must be sufficient evidence that the defendant committed the other act in question. State … Read more
I read an article this morning from the Washington Post about how some inmates are using the online consumer review site Yelp to rate jails and prisons. It’s an interesting mix of good reviews (“[I]f you’re going to get arrested, do it in Arlington County”) and bad (“This was the worst experience of my life … Read more
Potentially capital federal charges have been filed against Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in connection with the Boston marathon bombings. The filing of charges led to an initial appearance – in the hospital – before a federal magistrate judge, who advised Tsarnaev of his Miranda rights in the course of the proceeding. (Investigators had not previously read him … Read more
In Jeff’s recent announcement of the new version of the ASSET smartphone app, he mentioned that we would release another app soon. I’m pleased to report that our second app, a handheld guide to sentencing and corrections after Justice Reinvestment, is available now. It was created primarily as a field reference for probation officers, but … Read more
Last year, I announced the debut of “the School of Government’s first smartphone app, a guide to the law of search and seizure called ASSET.” Over 4,000 people installed the app, and reviews termed it a “great resource” and “very useful.” New version. We have just finished a new version of the app. The new … Read more