The Fourth Circuit held in United States v. Davis, No. 20-4035, 2021 WL 1826255, ___ F.3d ___ (4th Cir. May 7, 2021) that officers unlawfully searched a suspect’s backpack, which […]
Does the court have authority over parents of juveniles who are respondents in delinquency matters once the juvenile turns 18? This question has come up repeatedly as practitioners across North […]
On Monday, District Attorney Andrew Womble announced his determination that the killing of Andrew Brown Jr. by Pasquotank County sheriff’s deputies during the service of search and arrest warrants at […]
This post summarizes published criminal decisions from the North Carolina Court of Appeals released on May 4, 2021. These summaries, which were written by Shea Denning and Jamie Markham, will […]
This post summarizes decisions released by the United States Supreme Court on May 17, 2021. As always, they will be added to Smith’s Criminal Case Compendium, a free and searchable database […]
Recent well-publicized incidents have led to questions about when a law enforcement officer may use deadly force to seize a fleeing suspect. The short answer is that the Constitution permits […]
This post summarizes published criminal and related decisions from the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals released during April 2021.
A week ago, I noted that Chief Justice Paul Newby had renewed several emergency directives, including Emergency Directive 21, which required that persons in a court facility wear a face […]
By now, we’re all aware of last week’s crisis that caused people to hurry to the pumps and fill up on gas. If not, here’s the news: a hacker group […]
Motorists across the state are scrambling to find gas after a cyberattack on Colonial Pipeline significantly reduced shipments of fuel throughout much of the east coast this week. The attack, […]