Prior Record for Recidivist (and Recidivist-ish) Crimes

I am frequently asked about what convictions may count toward a defendant’s prior record level in prosecutions under the habitual felon law and other similar laws, like habitual impaired driving. For habitual felon prosecutions, the answer is pretty clear—G.S. 14-7.6 says convictions used to establish a person’s status as an habitual felon may not also … Read more

Field Sobriety Tests During Traffic Stops

Several recent inquiries have been variants of the following question: can an officer administer field sobriety tests during a routine traffic stop? In other words, if an officer has reasonable suspicion that a driver has committed a traffic violation, and has a hunch, not rising to the level of reasonable suspicion, that the driver is … Read more

The Budget and Court-Appointed Experts

A Chicago Tribune article, available here, states that an Illinois public defender recently moved to prohibit the state from seeking the death penalty against her client because the state does not have enough money to pay for the expert witnesses that she believes she will need at the penalty phase of the trial.  Apparently, Illinois … Read more

Holiday

Today’s a UNC holiday, and I am dutifully taking the day off.  For those who need their faith in humanity restored, though, you might read this story about a kid who robbed a Dunkin’ Donuts, felt bad about it, and came back the next day to return the money and hug the cashier.  Well, he … Read more

Relief from (Un?)Fair Sentencing

One of our loyal readers asked for our take on the provision in the motion for appropriate relief (MAR) statute that allows a defendant to seek relief at any time when “[t]here has been a significant change in law, either substantive or procedural, applied in the proceedings leading to the defendant’s conviction or sentence, and … Read more

Rivera v. Illinois and “Reverse Batson”

In Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79 (1986), the Supreme Court held that prosecutors could not exercise peremptory challenges based on race. In Georgia v. McCollum, 505 U.S. 42 (1992), the Court extended the same rule to defendants. (Sex discrimination is likewise prohibited, under J.E.B. v. Alabama ex rel T.B., 511 U.S. 127 (1994).) Yet … Read more

Lineups, Showups, Undercover Buys, and G.S. 15A-284.52

In 2007, the General Assembly enacted the Eyewitness Identification Reform Act, G.S. 15A-284.50 et seq.  The heart of the Act is G.S. 15A-284.52, which lays out rules for conducting lineups, whether live, i.e., involving the actual suspect and several other fillers, or by photo array, i.e., involving a picture of the suspect and several other … Read more