What to Do When Dorothea Dix Lights the “No Vacancy” Sign
When one side or the other questions a defendant’s capacity to proceed, the judge may order a competency evaluation. The evaluation is often done locally on an outpatient basis, but […]
News Roundup
Lots of interesting developments in the news recently. The Tar Heels won another women’s soccer national championship, and the United States finally got a favorable draw for the World Cup. […]
Felony Speeding to Elude and Lesser Included Offenses (with some ACC Rivalry sprinkled on top)
More than a decade ago, the General Assembly enacted G.S. 20-141.5, making it a Class 1 misdemeanor to operate a motor vehicle on street, highway, or public vehicular area while […]
Porter and Ineffective Assistance of Counsel at Capital Sentencing Hearings
The United States Supreme Court recently decided Porter v. McCollum, a capital case in which the defendant claimed that his lawyer performed ineffectively at the penalty phase of his trial. […]
Blood Draws in DWI Cases
Update: Check out this post about a recent court of appeals case in this area. Original post: Most DWI cases involve breath tests for alcohol. But there are circumstances in […]
Probation Officer Liability and the Public Duty Doctrine
A recent court of appeals case, Blaylock v. N.C. Department of Correction-Division of Community Corrections, has spurred to write about something I’ve been meaning to write about for a while: […]
Forcible Medication and the Death Penalty
Editor’s note: Tom Tynan is an alumnus of Duke University Law School, a recent federal judicial clerk, and a soon-to-be associate at a large law firm. He spent several months […]
Search Warrants for “All Persons on the Premises”
I have been asked several times about the validity of search warrants that authorize the police to search a particular place and “all persons on the premises.” It sounds as […]
News Roundup
There’s been quite a bit of criminal law news this past week: 1. The controversy over the Bowden case and its interpretation of life sentences continues. Governor Perdue has a […]
Consecutive Sentences for Misdemeanors
A while ago, Alyson Grine and I wrote a post about consecutive sentences for misdemeanors. In it, we discussed the rule that when a court elects to impose consecutive sentences […]