Can I Take a Look at Your Phone?
Inquisitive police officers regularly ask suspects questions like “Can I take a look at your phone?” or “Can I see your phone?” These on-the-street requests may give rise to legal […]
Court of Appeals Rules That Consent to Search Backpack, Given after Repeated Requests, Was Not Voluntary
Last month, the Court of Appeals ruled that police coerced a suspect into agreeing to let them search his backpack. Many of the traditional hallmarks of coercion, such as threatening […]
Case Summaries: N.C. Court of Appeals (Sept. 12, 2023)
This post summarizes the published criminal opinions from the North Carolina Court of Appeals released on September 12, 2023. These summaries will be added to Smith’s Criminal Case Compendium, a […]
Case Summaries: Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals (June 2023)
This post summarizes published criminal law and related decisions from the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals released in June 2023. Cases that may be of interest to state practitioners are […]
New Misdemeanor Crime of Domestic Violence
Last month, the North Carolina General Assembly passed S.L. 2023-14 (S 20) which largely covers changes to abortion laws. Within this bill is also a newly defined “misdemeanor crime of […]
Artificial Intelligence and the Practice of Criminal Law
You’ve probably heard of ChatGPT, the artificial intelligence chatbot built by the company Open AI. The most recent version of Open AI’s product, GPT-4, “scored in the 88th percentile on […]
Spring 2023 Update on the Constitutionality of Gun Laws
Last fall, I wrote a post about the litigation over the constitutionality of various firearms restrictions in the wake of New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, 597 […]
News Roundup
Next door in South Carolina, disgraced personal injury attorney and part-time prosecutor Alex Murdaugh has been convicted of the murders of his wife and son. The case has been in […]
Right to a Public Trial
The Sixth Amendment provides that a person accused of a crime “shall enjoy a public trial.” This right is grounded in the belief that judges and prosecutors will carry out […]
Case Summaries – N.C. Court of Appeals (Dec. 29, 2022)
This post summarizes the published criminal opinions from the North Carolina Court of Appeals released on December 29, 2022. These summaries will be added to Smith’s Criminal Case Compendium, a […]