The Need for (Evidence of) Speed
A civil case decided by the court of appeals last week, Blackwell v. Hatley, addresses when a witness may testify as to his or her opinion of how fast a […]
New Criminal Charges as a Violation of Probation
It is a regular condition of probation that a probationer must “commit no criminal offense in any jurisdiction.” G.S. 15A-1343(b)(1). The condition is straightforward enough in theory, but it raises […]
Blog Milestones
I just read this article, which cites a new study in support of the claim that “blogging is quickly becoming the thing that un-hip old people do.” Ouch! Apparently, hip […]
Victims’ Statements about Defendants’ Prior Violent Acts
The court of appeals just decided State v. Hernandez, which raises an important and recurrent hearsay issue. Briefly, the facts of Hernandez are as follows: the defendant traveled with his […]
Deferred Prosecution Probation
Under G.S. 15A-1341(a1), certain defendants may, with court approval, be placed on probation pursuant to a deferred prosecution agreement. To be eligible for this type of deferred prosecution the defendant […]
Going Back to the Well, er, Magistrate
I’ve been asked several times recently whether an officer who asks a magistrate to issue an arrest warrant and is turned down based on a lack of probable cause can […]
Decriminalizing Certain Offenses to Reduce Appointed Counsel Costs
The Office of Indigent Defense Services (IDS) is studying data related to the disposition of seventeen types of misdemeanor charges during the 2009 fiscal year to determine whether decriminalization of […]
News Roundup
Because a snowstorm is supposed to trap many of us in our homes this weekend, I thought I’d highlight some news items that may be of interest. 1. Judges Wynn […]
Visual Identification of Drugs Takes Another Hit
Update: On February 16, the North Carolina Court of Appeals issued an opinion in State v. Davis, in which law enforcement officers were allowed to offer lay testimony without objection […]
Computer Searches and Plain View II
When a law enforcement officer is entitled to search a computer for evidence, she typically is entitled to look at every file on the computer, at least briefly. That’s because […]