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Yesterday, the United States Supreme Court decided Berghuis v. Smith, a case in which the defendant claimed that the pool from which his jury was selected was not a fair […]

Some crimes, such as felon in possession of a firearm, include as an element that the defendant has a qualifying prior conviction. When this is the case, the defense may […]

The big news at this time of year is usually basketball-related, and Duke’s fantastic win last night to earn a Final Four berth certainly deserves mention. But because not everyone […]

Under G.S. 14-56, it is a Class I felony to “break[] or enter[] any . . . motor vehicle . . . containing any . . . thing of value” […]

I’ve been a little under the weather this week, so I thought I’d do a post about communicable diseases. One question that comes up frequently is whether an arrestee can […]

No, those aren’t the odds that I’ll finish first in the NCAA tournament pool that I’ll neither confirm nor deny entering.  Well, actually, they might be.  I thought picking Texas […]

Recently, I’ve been posting about relevancy issues that arise with some frequency in North Carolina criminal cases. A final topic in that vein is the relevancy of evidence pertaining to […]

Article 1, section 10 of the Constitution—the Compacts Clause—authorizes two or more states to enter into agreements or compacts with one another, provided they have the consent of Congress. Dozens […]

Several interesting stories have cropped up over the past week. 1. In Moore County, a woman who was convicted in district court of DWI and speeding was acquitted on trial […]

March Madness starts today. Apparently, many people take the time to predict how the entire tournament will play out, in an age-old custom called “filling out a bracket.” How strange! […]