A UNC School of Government Blog
Or, Seeking Dismissal Based on the State’s Destruction of Evidence Unpublished court of appeals opinions occasionally assume the cache of bootleg recordings of live performances of the Grateful Dead. If you’ve got your hands on a good one, the real value is in sharing it with an appreciative audience. One such opinion making the rounds … Read more
I came across an interesting out-of-state case today. In State v. McLean, __ A.3d __ (N.J. Mar. 31, 2011), the Supreme Court of New Jersey held that an officer who “observed defendant engage in behavior that the officer believed was a [hand-to-hand] narcotics transaction” could testify only about the basic facts that he observed, and … Read more
Twice each year, the School of Government welcomes newly-appointed magistrates for two weeks of training. Part of the curriculum involves learning the elements of common crimes. When I teach the elements of armed robbery, an exchange like this always ensues: Me: Imagine that a bad guy comes into a convenience store and tells the clerk … Read more
The legislature has passed, and the Governor has signed, new S.L. 2011-12, which creates three new Schedule I drugs, defines certain synthetic cannabinoids as Schedule VI drugs, and makes several other changes to the drug statutes. (The federal government had already taken action on synthetic cannabinoids, as discussed here.) The law is effective July June … Read more
As most of you probably know, G.S. 90-95(h) sets out special sentencing rules for drug trafficking offenses, including mandatory fines and minimum and maximum sentences that apply regardless of the defendant’s prior record. This chart summarizes the law. During the Felony Sentencing installment of my colleague Alyson Grine’s “Lunchinar” series (available on demand for free … Read more
The State House of Representatives recently passed H 33, “An Act to Provide that Certain Consulate or Embassy Documents May Not be Used to Determine a Person’s Identification or Residence for Governmental and Law Enforcement Purposes.” Among the provisions the bill would amend if enacted is G.S. 20-7(b4), which currently permits the North Carolina Division … Read more
Hit and run is a term used to describe several felony and misdemeanor offenses set forth in G.S. 20-166, a statute in which neither the term “hit” nor “run” appears. G.S. 20-166 criminalizes a driver’s failure to stop at the scene of a crash in which the vehicle he or she is driving is involved, … Read more
We at the School of Government like to think that we produce lots of useful scholarship. We write books, articles, informal papers, blog posts, and so on. Those of us working in the area of criminal law try to make our work useful to lawyers and judges involved in criminal cases. But of course, our … Read more
The usual Friday news roundup was displaced last week by an extremely important post. But the news itself just kept coming, including the following: 1. The General Assembly passed the Forensic Sciences Act, a bill that will reform the workings of the SBI crime lab. A News and Observer story about the bill is here, … Read more