A UNC School of Government Blog
Last week, the court of appeals decided State v. Yencer, ruling, in effect, that Davidson College may not operate its own police department. The ruling calls into serious question the authority of several other private universities’ police departments, meaning that it is of interest not only in Davidson, but also Durham (the website of the … Read more
As noted in an earlier post, I get asked a lot of questions about motions for appropriate relief (MARs). One procedural issue that causes some confusion is procedural default. The MAR statute provides that in order for a court to reach the merits of a defendant’s MAR, the defendant must satisfy certain procedural rules. If … Read more
In previous posts, my colleagues and I have discussed several of the noteworthy bills enacted by the General Assembly in the short session that concluded last month. For example, Jamie wrote about some developments in the law of sentencing and corrections here, I posted John Rubin’s summary of the new gun rights legislation here, and … Read more
The biggest criminal law story this week has to be the ongoing controversy over the SBI. Two independent reviewers examined the work of the Forensic Biology Section of the SBI lab — the section responsible for blood testing — and found 230 cases in which problems existed. In some cases, for example, “[l]aboratory test results … Read more
I blogged here about the North Carolina Court of Appeals’ initial opinion in Lee v. Gore, ___ N.C. App. ___ (January 19, 2010), holding that DMV lacked authority to revoke the petitioner’s driving privileges for refusing a chemical analysis upon receipt of an affidavit that failed to allege a willful refusal. DMV filed a petition … Read more
I recently finished a comprehensive update of my Sex Offender Registration and Monitoring Flow Chart. It’s available here. As before, it includes a list of all reportable crimes (with a key to the relevant effective date applicable to each) and a summary of the satellite-based monitoring (SBM) determination hearing process required when a person is … Read more
Because our appellate courts often find the Fourth Circuit’s opinions to be persuasive authority, I read all the Fourth Circuit’s published criminal cases. Yesterday, the court decided United States v. Johnson, a drug case involving two noteworthy issues. The short version of the facts is as follows: Officers wiretapped a suspected drug dealer’s phone. The … Read more
Along with the published cases released by the N.C. Court of Appeals on August 3, 2010, was an unpublished case of note. In State v. Davis, __ N.C. App. __ (Aug. 3, 2010), the court ordered a new trial after finding that the trial judge erred by admitting into evidence an autopsy report prepared by … Read more
It’s been another interesting week. 1. The lead story may be the filing of claims under the Racial Justice Act. When I wrote last week’s news roundup, five inmates had filed for relief. As of this writing, the number seems to be 147 (out of a total death row population of 159). Editorials pro and … Read more
In the recently-completed legislative session, the General Assembly passed several new laws regarding sentencing, corrections, and similar subjects. Frequent blog contributor and School of Government faculty member Jamie Markham has just finished a summary of that legislation. His excellent summary is available, hot off the presses, here. Highlights include Jamie’s analysis of the DNA-collection law; … Read more