A UNC School of Government Blog
Can a defendant who chooses to represent himself subsequently argue that he received ineffective assistance of “counsel”? No, as illustrated by the recent case of State v. Brunson, __ N.C. App. __ (2012). The defendant in Brunson elected to represent himself. He was convicted of sexually abusing his stepdaughter. He appealed, arguing in part that … Read more
If you have an iPhone, an iPad, or an iPod touch, you can now download the School of Government’s first smartphone app, a guide to the law of search and seizure called ASSET. (That’s an acronym for Arrest, Search, and Seizure Electronic Tool, but obviously we also hope that the app will be an asset … Read more
I feel like we’re living in East Texas, where summer consists of a long, unbroken string of 100 degree days with high humidity. Lucky for us, there are lots of things we can do indoors to pass the time, like perusing the new electronic version of North Carolina Crimes. It’s a web-based, searchable product, available … Read more
[Editor’s Note: We are continuing to experience difficulty with our email subscription function. In attempting to remedy the problem, our hard-working technical folks accidentally sent two test email notifications to many subscribers yesterday afternoon. We apologize for the error and hope to have the system working smoothly soon.] I wrote here about a 2011 law … Read more
I recently wrote here about North Carolina’s notice and demand statutes and how they allow the State to obtain a constitutionally valid waiver of confrontation clause rights with respect to forensic reports and chain of custody evidence. The purpose of that post was to remind litigants of the existence of the statutes. But knowing about … Read more
It’s been over six months since the last update of my sex offender flow chart (the previous version was current as of January 12, 2012). A revised version is now available here. As in the prior version, everything to do with registration is on the front and everything to do with satellite-based monitoring (SBM) is … Read more
A recent decision by the court of appeals illustrates the procedural pitfalls of a common practice: closing the courtroom during the testimony of the victim of an alleged sex crime. This practice is motivated by the best of intentions. The purpose is to spare the victim the embarrassment of discussing the intimate details of a … Read more
Some of you aren’t getting email notifications of new posts. Sorry about that. Our IT folks are working to resolve the glitch, but it may take a little time. I’ll keep you informed. Meanwhile, the world keeps turning. Among the interesting news this week: In a development that is a surprise to exactly no one, … Read more
Jamie’s post yesterday about the legislature’s amendments to the JRA was great, and absolutely essential for criminal lawyers. Shea’s recent post on the expansion of continuous alcohol monitoring was equally valuable. But, let’s be honest, no one is going to ask you at a cocktail party about changes to the CRV rules for misdemeanants. (Unless … Read more
Like most complicated legislation, the Justice Reinvestment Act (JRA) was less than perfectly clear as originally written. Earlier this week (July 16, 2012) the governor signed House Bill 1021, Justice Reinvestment Clarifications. S.L. 2012-188. The act makes several important changes to the law, some of which are effective immediately. This post summarizes them. Changes to … Read more