Double Bond
Last session, the General Assembly added a new subsection to the principal pretrial release statute, G.S. 15A-534. The new provision took effect on December 1, 2013, and has proven to […]
Obtaining a Search Warrant after Charges Have Been Brought
Most search warrants are obtained before anyone has been charged with a crime. But sometimes officers will charge a defendant and then decide to obtain a search warrant to seek […]
When Do The Evidence Rules Apply?
An interesting thing happened to me recently at a cocktail party. Before you get too excited let me say that this is a PG blog post! And it’s about the […]
Pretrial Release — Part 2: Who Sets Conditions? What Are the Options?
In my first post in this series, I addressed the issue of who is entitled to conditions of pretrial release. In this post, I’ll address who can set conditions and […]
News Roundup
The weather forecast calls for a rainy weekend: a good time to sit around, listening to some music. Preferably Bob Dylan, since he is apparently the musician most often cited […]
Officers Exposed to Communicable Diseases
I’ve been a little under the weather this week, so I thought I’d do a post about communicable diseases. One question that comes up frequently is whether an arrestee can […]
Montejo v. Louisiana
Two big developments at the United States Supreme Court. First, President Obama nominated Judge Sonia Sotomayor to replace Justice David Souter. The New York Times story is here, some News […]
Magistrates Appointing Counsel?
Last term, the United States Supreme Court decided Rothgery v. Gillespie County, available here. As most folks likely know, before Rothgery, North Carolina law held that a defendant’s Sixth Amendment […]
Kansas v. Ventris and the Sixth Amendment
The Supreme Court’s latest criminal law decision is Kansas v. Ventris, available here. The basic holding is that a statement obtained in violation of a defendant’s Sixth Amendment right to […]
No Probable Cause?
One of the things I do as Defender Educator is design CLEs for public defenders and private assigned counsel. In an effort to plan top-notch programs, I meet from time […]