Author’s Note: The North Carolina Supreme Court in State v. Chambers, 56PA24, __ N.C. __ (May 23, 2025), reversed the opinion below, holding that provisions of G.S. 15A-1215(a) permitting the […]
This post summarizes McElrath v. Georgia from the Supreme Court of the United States, decided on February 21, 2024. This summary will be added to Smith’s Criminal Case Compendium, a […]
Two recent opinions from the Court of Appeals illustrate the remarkable controversy currently underway over the specificity required of indictments. In State v. Coffey, No. COA22-883, 2024 WL 675881 (N.C. […]
A noncitizen can lose status—that is, the right to be in the U.S.—and be forced to leave if he or she comes within a ground of deportability. In general, the […]
A bill to “recriminalize” the possession of certain dangerous drugs is moving forward in Oregon. Oregon became the first state to decriminalize the possession of drugs such as cocaine, methamphetamine, […]
This post summarizes the published criminal opinions from the North Carolina Court of Appeals released on March 5, 2024. These summaries will be added to Smith’s Criminal Case Compendium, a […]
I have written before about the cache associated with a handful of unpublished opinions from the North Carolina Court of Appeals. Sure, they aren’t binding, but they can be persuasive. […]
The national crime rate continues to attract a lot of media attention, but I haven’t seen much on North Carolina-specific crime data. In late 2022, I wrote about the violent […]
Magistrates are often referred to as the “first face” of the judicial system for most citizens. They serve the public with professionalism, all while keeping abreast of the rapidly changing […]
Bankman-Fried sentencing. Regular readers know that I’m interested in the criminal case against Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of the fallen cryptocurrency exchange FTX. I even read a book about Bankman-Fried, which […]