This post summarizes the published criminal opinions from the North Carolina Supreme Court released on August 22, 2025. Previously, summaries were added to Smith’s Criminal Case Compendium, but due to personnel changes and resource limitations, that resource is no longer available. We will continue to post and archive new summaries here on the blog.
No Interscholastic Athletics Participation in Public Schools After a Felony Conviction
A new school year is upon us and students across North Carolina are back in classrooms and on athletic fields. The question of who is eligible to participate in interscholastic athletics in North Carolina’s public schools is answered by the student participation rules established by the North Carolina State Board of Education. Those rules include a ban on participation following a felony conviction. This post explains the rule, explores how it applies to various legal outcomes, and offers considerations for practitioners involved in cases in which a minor is being prosecuted in criminal court for a felony charge.
Case Summaries: N.C. Court of Appeals (Aug. 20, 2025)
This post summarizes the published criminal opinions from the North Carolina Court of Appeals released on August 20, 2025.
An indictment for injuring property to obtain non-ferrous metals was sufficient despite the lack of any allegation concerning the value of the property damage.
State v. Council, No. COA25-78 (N.C. Ct. App. Aug. 20, 2025) (Hampson). In this Durham County case, the defendant was suspected of stealing a catalytic converter from a truck. He was indicted for, and convicted of, felony larceny and felony injury to property to obtain non-ferrous metals. He appealed, asserting that the indictment for the injury to property charge was defective for failing to specify the value of the property damage.
News Roundup
Erik Menendez was denied parole by a panel of California commissioners yesterday. He and his brother Lyle were sentenced to life in prison in 1996 for fatally shooting their parents in the family’s Beverly Hills mansion in 1989.
During his 10-hour hearing, he offered a detailed account of how he was raised and why he made the choices he did, both at the time of his parents’ killing and during his decades in prison. A panel of two parole commissioners said Menendez was unsuitable for release. They said his actions in prison—including affiliating with a prison gang and having a cellphone in violation of the rules—showed he was a risk to public safety.
Menendez can come before the parole board again in three years if the decision is not overturned. Lyle Menendez’s case is set to be heard by the parole board today.
Annual Report from the North Carolina Judicial College (2024-25)
I am excited to share this year’s annual report from the North Carolina Judicial College. Taking stock of a year’s work can be a meaningful exercise, and I’m proud of what we — and the judicial officials we serve — accomplished. Last year, we offered nearly 50 continuing education courses that provided more than 700 hours of continuing education credit. Those courses included Advanced Criminal Procedure for Superior Court Judges, Conducting Hearings and Entering Judgment for Magistrates, Drafting Orders for Clerks, and the Indian Child Welfare Act Seminar, all of which are featured in the report along with reviews from participants. We also participated in the awarding of certifications to several officials. Seven district court judges were among the first group to ever receive the Advanced Juvenile Justice Certification and eleven magistrates were certified, nine in civil law and two in criminal law. The report lists those officials by name and district; if you know them, please extend your congratulations.
News Roundup
President Trump deployed the D.C. National Guard, took control of the Metropolitan Police Department, and reassigned FBI agents from their regular duties to patrol the streets of Washington, D.C. this week. At a press conference on Monday, Trump identified rising crime rates and the threat of violent crime as the primary reasons for his attention to law enforcement in the District. In response, the New York Times and CNN have published reports showing crime rates have steadily dropped since the pandemic, and are dropping as part of a larger trend since the 1990’s. Also this week, a federal judge in California is considering whether President Trump violated the law when he deployed the National Guard in Los Angeles. Read on for more criminal law news.
New Edition of Probation Violations in North Carolina
I’m happy to announce the availability of the Second Edition of Probation Violations in North Carolina. The book is available in the School of Government bookstore, here. Even though the number of people on probation in North Carolina is about half of what it was when I started at the School of Government in 2007, … Read more
New Limits on MARs in Noncapital Cases
My colleagues have been blogging about some of the changes to our criminal law wrought by recent legislation. Session Law 2025-70 also amends G.S. 15A-1415, which governs the grounds that a defendant may assert by motion for appropriate relief (MAR), and establishes limitations as to time. Whereas the statute previously listed grounds that a defendant may assert by MAR at any time after the verdict, the recent amendments create a seven-year limit on most noncapital MARs. This post addresses the changes to G.S. 15A-1415 (effective Dec. 1, 2025).
Case Summaries: N.C. Court of Appeals (August 6, 2025)
This post summarizes the published criminal opinions from the North Carolina Court of Appeals released on August 6, 2025.
The State presented sufficient evidence to establish that a hammer was used as a dangerous weapon to support conviction for robbery with a dangerous weapon.
State v. Blackburn, No. COA24-1016 (N.C. Ct. App. Aug. 6, 2025). The victim was sleeping in his Mazda as he did every night when he was awakened by banging on the outside of his car. Two men pulled the victim from the car and held a gun to his head. Three men threatened to shoot him if he didn’t hand over his money, and when the victim stated he didn’t have any money, the men pushed him against the car facing the vehicle, and one of the men hit the victim with a hammer. The defendant stated he hit the victim with a hammer on the back of the victim’s shoulder, while the victim testified that he was hit on the back of the head and neck, fell to the ground, and lost consciousness for a short period. When he came to, he saw the men driving away in the Mazda. The defendant was apprehended near the stolen vehicle later that night. The defendant was convicted of robbery with a dangerous weapon and conspiracy to commit robbery with a dangerous weapon after a jury trial.