A UNC School of Government Blog
Who proves prior convictions for sentencing purposes? By statute, the State. Sometimes, however, in the fast-paced world of district court, marshaling a defendant’s criminal record can seem like a shared responsibility, with the prosecutor, judge, and clerk all playing a role. Especially today, when more statewide information is available at a mouse click through CJLEADS … Read more
There’s been way more than the usual amount of interesting criminal law news this week, so let’s dive right in: The General Assembly has been busy. The Senate passed a bill that would, among other things, repeal the Racial Justice Act; it now moves to the House. Meanwhile, the House passed a bill that the … Read more
I’ve previously discussed the forfeiture by wrongdoing exception to the confrontation clause in this blog (here) and in numerous other publications (for example, here). In a nutshell, the forfeiture by wrongdoing exception extinguishes confrontation claims on the equitable grounds that a person should not be able to benefit from his or her wrongdoing. Forfeiture by … Read more
Two prosecutors in Kaufman County, Texas, have been killed in the past two months. A deputy district attorney was murdered two months ago. Two days ago, the elected district attorney was killed, along with his wife. The New York Times has the story here. It’s not completely clear that the two murders were related, though … Read more
Vehicle crashes are an obvious risk of impaired driving. Thus, it is not unusual for impaired driving prosecutions to follow post-crash investigations, which typically include questioning of the suspected driver. When the State prosecutes impaired driving cases that follow certain types of crashes—namely single car crashes to which there are no witnesses other than the … Read more
Since tomorrow’s a holiday for many, including me, this week’s news roundup comes a day early. The lead story is the apparent crumbling of the video sweepstakes industry. Major software vendor International Internet Technologies has announced that it will immediately cease doing business in North Carolina, so that the company’s owner can turn his full … Read more
A lot of defendants plead guilty. And many of those defendants later try to challenge their pleas through the post-conviction process. Not surprisingly then, I get a lot of questions about what types of claims can be asserted in a motion for appropriate relief (MAR) challenging an unconditional guilty plea. As a general rule, a … Read more
Today, most Supreme Court watchers are focused on the oral argument in the same-sex marriage cases. But the Court also released an important opinion in Florida v. Jardines, ruling that an officer conducts a Fourth Amendment search when he brings a drug dog onto the porch of a house to sniff the front door. Jardines … Read more
The state crime lab and other local laboratories perform nearly 10,000 blood toxicology analyses annually, the vast majority of them in impaired driving cases. Unlike breath analysis results, which the State has in hand before a person’s initial appearance in an impaired driving case, several months may elapse after a person’s arrest for impaired driving … Read more
This blog passed two million hits this week. It has far surpassed the modest expectations I had when it began. Thanks to everyone who is part of the blog community for contributing to its success. In other news: Bill to allow non-lawyer judges. As the News and Observer notes here, the General Assembly is considering … Read more