U.S. Supreme Court Ruling: Padilla Is Not Retroactive
The U.S. Supreme Court recently decided Chaidez v. United States, 568 U.S. __ (Feb. 20, 2013), holding that Padilla v. Kentucky, 559 U. S. ___ (2010), isn’t retroactive. Padilla held […]
Supreme Court: Alert by a Trained or Certified Drug Dog Normally Provides Probable Cause
Yesterday, the Supreme Court decided Florida v. Harris, holding that when a trained and certified drug dog alerts on a vehicle, that normally provides probable cause to search the car, […]
Whose Burden is it?
The State’s failure to accord a defendant his or her statutory implied consent rights as set forth in G.S. 20-16.2 may render the results of any ensuing breath test inadmissible. When a […]
Delaying the Start of a Sentence
Sometimes, after being convicted and sentenced to jail or prison, a defendant asks for a little time to get his or her affairs in order before the sentence begins. Can […]
News Roundup
In terms of having an impact on a large number of people, the biggest news of the week may be yesterday’s announcement by Transportation Secretary Tony Tata. He proclaimed that […]
Probation Officers’ Arrest Authority in Deferral Cases
Can a probation officer arrest a person being supervised pursuant to a deferred prosecution agreement or G.S. 90-96 judgment? I’ve been asked that question a lot lately. I suspect it […]
Abolishing Judgeships: Can They Do That?
One of the livelier issues in last week’s General Assembly was the Senate’s move to abolish 12 of the 15 special superior court judgeships. Senate Bill 10, which would affect […]
“Stipulating” to Habitual Felon Status
This post discusses what may be the single most common error in habitual felon proceedings: having a defendant stipulate, rather than plead guilty, to being a habitual felon. Must plead […]
Habitual Felon and Previous Convictions from New Jersey
I don’t mean to cast aspersions on the Garden State, but it seems like there are a lot of people here in North Carolina with criminal records from New Jersey. […]
News Roundup
The top of the news this week is SB 10, which appears to have passed the state Senate. (You can see the bill’s progress here.) Readers of this blog will […]