Last month, the Court of Appeals ruled that police coerced a suspect into agreeing to let them search his backpack. Many of the traditional hallmarks of coercion, such as threatening […]
Most of the news I’ve gathered this week is from right here in North Carolina, but I’ll start with an interesting story from Oklahoma. The AP reports here that “A […]
Each year the School of Government publishes new and revised pattern jury instructions for civil, criminal, and motor vehicle negligence cases. Those instructions are created and compiled by the North […]
The answer would seem to be obvious. A person is guilty of forcible rape if the person engages in vaginal intercourse with another person by force and against the will […]
After more than 25 years, an arrest has been made in the killing of the rapper Tupac Shakur, as AP news reports here. “Pac” died in a drive-by shooting in […]
This post summarizes the published criminal opinions from the North Carolina Court of Appeals released on October 3, 2023. These summaries will be added to Smith’s Criminal Case Compendium, a […]
Law enforcement and the communities they serve want effective responses to crime and other problems. They want policing that promotes safety and trust. And they want alternative responses for behavioral […]
The School of Government has published a new resource on initial appearances and pretrial release. Although any judicial official is authorized to preside at an initial appearance, in most cases […]
Law enforcement officers in Philadelphia arrested more than 50 people Tuesday night after a flash mob ransacked dozens of stores, including Foot Locker, Lululemon, Apple, and at least 18 state-run […]
The opioid crisis seems to be getting worse every year. NCDHHS reports that in 2021, over 4,000 North Carolinians died from opioid overdoses, up 22% from the prior year. Most […]