Blood Draws in DWI Cases
Update: Check out this post about a recent court of appeals case in this area. Original post: Most DWI cases involve breath tests for alcohol. But there are circumstances in […]
Officers Doing Blood Draws?
The Associated Press just published this story about a federal program in Idaho and Texas in which officers are trained to draw blood from people suspected of impaired driving. The […]
You Can’t Tell Just from the Smell
I’ve been asked more than once about whether the odor of alcohol combined with a positive reading on a portable breath alcohol screening test device, such as an ALCO-SENSOR, without […]
DWI Appeal Procedures: Fowler and Palmer
Two statutes enacted as part of the Motor Vehicle Driver Protection Act of 2006, G.S. 20-38.6 and 20-38.7, significantly altered district court procedures for implied consent offenses committed on or […]
Stick to the Plan (er, Policy)
Before December 1, 2006, GS 20-16.3A set forth requirements governing impaired driving checkpoints but not other types of checking stations and roadblocks. While non-DWI checking stations and roadblocks had to […]
Accomplices in Error: Improper Argument in State v. Meadows
The defendant in State v. Meadows, No. COA24-149 (N.C. Ct. App. May 7, 2025), was convicted of murder based on evidence that he and two other men broke into the […]
Case Summaries: N.C. Court of Appeals (May 7, 2025)
This post summarizes the published criminal opinions from the North Carolina Court of Appeals released on May 7, 2025. These summaries will be added to Smith’s Criminal Case Compendium, a […]
Case Summaries: N.C. Court of Appeals (April 16, 2025)
This post summarizes the published criminal opinions from the North Carolina Court of Appeals released on April 16, 2025. These summaries will be added to Smith’s Criminal Case Compendium, a […]
Case Summaries: N.C. Court of Appeals (Nov. 19, 2024)
This post summarizes the published criminal opinions from the North Carolina Court of Appeals released on November 19, 2024. These summaries will be added to Smith’s Criminal Case Compendium, a […]
Case Summaries: Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals (April 2024)
This post summarizes published criminal and related decisions of interest from the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in April 2024. Previous summaries of Fourth Circuit criminal cases can be found […]