A UNC School of Government Blog
On June 1, 2010, the N.C. Court of Appeals applied Arizona v. Gant in State v. Johnson and held that the defendant’s Fourth Amendment rights were violated when the police searched his vehicle incident to his arrest. There is nothing particularly significant about that holding, as it involved a fairly straightforward application of Gant. However, … Read more
Yesterday, the United States Supreme Court decided Berghuis v. Thompkins, an important Miranda case. (There are other issues in the case, too, but this post will focus on the Miranda claim.) The basic facts, taken from the Court’s syllabus, are as follows: After advising respondent Thompkins of his rights, in full compliance with Miranda v. … Read more
Under G.S. 15A-1343(b1)(10), a court may, in addition to the regular conditions of probation and any statutory special conditions, require a defendant to “[s]atisfy any other conditions determined by the court to be reasonably related to his rehabilitation.” Any ad hoc conditions must also bear a relationship to the defendant’s crime. State v. Cooper, 304 … Read more
It’s Friday before a holiday weekend. What better time for a news roundup? 1. Two brothers prevented a 19-year-old jogger from being abducted in Chapel Hill recently. Their inspiring story is here. 2. A much more somber story about crime in Chapel Hill is here: Demario Atwater pleaded guilty to murdering student body president Eve … Read more
Consider the following scenario. The police arrest Sam Suspect and charge him with murdering his wife, Vicky Victim. The arrest is based on a statement from Frank Friend, one of Sam’s buddies. According to Frank, Sam told him that he was having an affair and killed Vicky to get her “out of the way.” Sam … Read more
The News and Observer reports today on “a proposal to collect DNA from suspects when they are arrested for felonies or violent crimes.” The bill in question is H1403, and it states that “any person who is arrested for committing a felony must provide his or her DNA sample . . . for . . … Read more
In the game show Name that Tune, contestants had to identify song titles correctly in order to win cash prizes. In criminal pleadings in North Carolina, the state must identify drugs correctly in order to win convictions. The latest illustration of this principle is State v. LePage, a decision rendered by the court of appeals … Read more
I’ve heard a few recurrent questions recently regarding the imposition upon a defendant’s conviction of a $600 fee for support of the State Bureau of Investigation or for law enforcement purposes of a local government unit that operates a crime laboratory. First, is such a fee discretionary? Second, does it apply if the SBI laboratory … Read more
1. Bloggers often feel like Rodney Dangerfield: we get no respect. But over the past week, I’ve learned that under the latest revision of the Bluebook, the citation manual for lawyers, “blog posts are cited much the same as law journals or other periodicals,” instead of being treated like emails and other informal correspondence. (Hat … Read more
In a recent post, I suggested that by establishing a good foundation, the State may be able to overcome a confrontation clause objection to its use a substitute analyst in a drug case. In its recent opinion in State v. Brewington, the N.C. Court of Appeals held that the trial court committed reversible error by … Read more