Case Summaries: N.C. Court of Appeals (Aug. 20, 2024)
This post summarizes the published criminal opinions from the North Carolina Court of Appeals released on August 20, 2024. These summaries will be added to Smith’s Criminal Case Compendium, a […]
Case Summaries: Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals (July 2024)
This post summarizes published criminal law and related cases released by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals during July 2024. Cases of potential interest to state practitioners are summarized monthly. […]
News Roundup
Last week, the Department of Defense announced that 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammad and two co-defendants had reached plea deals. Generally, the defendants would plead guilty to various charges before […]
U.S. Supreme Court Curtails Substitute Analyst Testimony
The U.S. Supreme Court recently decided Smith v. Arizona, 602 U.S. ___; 2024 WL 3074423 (June 21, 2024) (Kagan, J.). The case settled a lingering question in Sixth Amendment Confrontation […]
Backing Away from Bruen? Supreme Court Upholds Law Barring Restraining Order Subjects from Possessing Guns
On June 21, the Supreme Court decided a highly-anticipated Second Amendment case. In United States v. Rahimi, 602 U.S. __ (2024), the Court considered a facial challenge to 18 U.S.C. […]
Bruen Comes to North Carolina
My colleague Jeff Welty has covered the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in New York Rife and Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen, 597 U.S. 1 (2022), and subsequent lower court cases […]
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 […]
News Roundup
A lawsuit has been filed against the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services and its secretary, asserting that the state’s lack of assessment and treatment services has resulted […]
Plain Feel, Pill Bottles, and Probable Cause: State v. Jackson
A common point of confusion among law enforcement and the public is about the use of unlabeled pill bottles. Is it legal to possess prescription medicine in a container other […]
Another Look at PJCs
Prayer for judgment continued or a “PJC” is a common disposition in criminal cases, most frequently for traffic law violations or low-level crimes, where entry of final judgment is delayed […]