New Drug Crimes

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

Habitual Drug Trafficking

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

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H33 and North Carolina Driver’s License Requirements

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

Index of SOG Criminal Law Materials

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

News Roundup

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

Defendants Who Represent Themselves

Earlier this month, the Supreme Court of North Carolina decided State v. Lane, a capital case involving the abduction, rape, and murder of a five-year-old girl. The defendant in Lane initially sought to represent himself, exercising the right of self-representation established in Faretta v. California, 422 U.S. 806 (1975) (holding that part of the right … Read more

Prosecutors’ Civil Liability for Brady Violations

The United States Supreme Court decided Connick v. Thompson yesterday. In a nutshell, the plaintiff, John Thompson, spent 18 years in prison as a result of a Brady violation. After he was exonerated, he sued the district attorney’s office, claiming that the office failed to train prosecutors adequately about their Brady obligations. A jury agreed … Read more