When Probation Ends
Knowing when probation begins is generally pretty easy. Figuring out when it ends can be a little trickier.
State v. McCaster and the Recalcitrant Probationer
Suppose a defendant is convicted of a class I felony and has a prior record level of I. That’s a “C” block on the felony sentencing grid, where only community […]
Court of Appeals Reconsiders State v. Reed and Again Finds a Fourth Amendment Violation
The court of appeals decided another significant Rodriguez case yesterday, ruling (again) in State v. Reed that the highway patrol trooper who stopped the defendant for speeding on Interstate 95 […]
News Roundup
On Monday morning, a man detonated a pipe bomb inside a subway corridor in New York, seriously injuring himself but, because the device malfunctioned, not causing serious harm to anyone […]
Domestic Violence Law and Procedure
In getting ready for the North Carolina magistrates’ fall conference and a session that I’m teaching on issuing process in domestic violence cases, I began thinking about the ways that […]
District Court Judges Go to Washington
A week ago today, I sat in the gallery of the United States Supreme Court with twenty North Carolina district court judges listening to Chief Justice John Roberts announce the […]
May an Officer Search a Vehicle Incident to an Arrest for DWI?
In Arizona v. Gant, 556 U.S. 332 (2009), the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that an officer may “search a vehicle incident to a recent occupant’s arrest only […]
Fourth Circuit Sets Out Authority to Frisk When a State’s Law Permits Possession of Concealed Firearm
The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, on a rehearing of a case en banc, held in United States v. Robinson, 2017 WL 280727 (Jan. 23, 2017), that an officer had […]
Criminal Law and Protests
Protests are breaking out all over. This weekend, protesters gathered at RDU to oppose President Trump’s travel ban. Last weekend, participants in Women’s Marches took to the streets of Washington […]
Court of Appeals Says Magistrate’s Order Does Not Toll Statute of Limitations
The court of appeals held yesterday in State v. Turner, __ N.C. App. ___ (2016), that the issuance of a magistrate’s order charging a defendant with driving while impaired did […]