Book Review: Don’t Shoot
I don’t think I’ve ever reviewed a book on the blog before — maybe this prior post would qualify — but I recently finished Don’t Shoot, by Paul David Kennedy, […]
Substantial Similarity of Prior Convictions from Other Jurisdictions
Under G.S. 15A-1340.14(e), a defendant’s prior out-of-state convictions count by default as Class I felonies if the other jurisdiction classifies them as a felony, or as Class 3 misdemeanors if […]
Complete Summaries of 2012 Legislation Now Available
Jeff previously posted his “cocktail party review” of significant criminal law legislation passed this year by the North Carolina General Assembly, or at least legislation people might be interested in […]
Explaining the Defendant’s Absence at Trial
About a year and a half ago I did a blog post here about trial in the defendant’s absence. The recent Court of Appeals case, State v. Anderson, suggests that […]
News Roundup
Can you name all nine Justices of the United States Supreme Court? Take a moment and test yourself before you read on. How did you do? If you were able […]
State v. Osterhoudt and motions procedures in implied consent cases
Jeff wrote earlier this week about the court of appeals’ opinion in State v. Osterhoudt (August 21, 2012). Jeff’s post dealt with the court’s substantive analysis of whether the police […]
Is Being Homeless a Probation Violation?
A probation violation must be willful. In this prior post I wrote about the burden-shifting process in which the State must prove to the court’s reasonable satisfaction that a violation […]
Stopped for “Normal” Driving
A good rule of thumb is that most interesting impaired driving appeals come from Pitt County. Whether that is related to ECU’s ranking as a top five “party school,” I […]
Fatal Variance — Use It or Lose It
A fatal defect in an indictment occurs when the indictment fails to allege an essential element of the crime charged. A fatal variance, by contrast, occurs when the facts brought […]
News Roundup
I’ve been traveling a fair bit lately, which made me especially receptive to this story about things the TSA has found on air passengers or in their luggage this year. […]