State v. Hobson and the Presentment Controversy
Presentments have been a hot topic lately and the court of appeals just issued a decision involving a presentment. This post explains the controversy and the significance of the recent […]
August 6, 2018
Court of Appeals Rules Pattern Jury Instruction Inadequate in Felony Indecent Exposure Case
Last month, the court of appeals ruled that the pattern jury instruction for felony indecent exposure was inadequate given the facts of the case before it. The case is State […]
June 4, 2018
Even When the Controlled Buys Happen at the Back Door, Knock and Talks Must Happen at the Front Door
I’ve blogged before about whether law enforcement officers may go to a side door, or the back door, when attempting to conduct a knock-and-talk. The court of appeals just decided […]
May 3, 2018
Failure to Include Known Facts in a Search Warrant Application Can Undermine Probable Cause
When a search warrant application fails to establish probable cause, the problem isn’t normally that the applicant didn’t have probable cause. It’s that the applicant failed to include important facts […]
March 12, 2018
How Serious Is a “Serious Bodily Injury”?
Here’s a question for you: which of the following injuries is more serious? The victim, a police officer injured while fighting with a suspect, “sustained puncture wounds [from bites] on […]
October 30, 2017
“Belk’s Department Stores, an entity capable of owning property”
The court of appeals recently decided that an indictment alleging that a defendant stole some shirts from “Belk’s Department Stores, an entity capable of owning property,” did not sufficiently identify […]
October 24, 2017
State v. Messer, Uncorroborated Confessions & the Corpus Delicti Rule
A few years ago, I wrote a blog post (here) about the corpus delicti rule. That rule popped up in a recent court of appeals case, State v. Messer. Here’s […]
September 11, 2017
Court of Appeals Rules that a Citation Was Sufficient Even Though It Failed to Allege Multiple Elements of an Offense
Last year, the court of appeals ruled that a citation that failed to allege an essential element of an offense was sufficient to serve as the State’s pleading. The court […]
May 22, 2017
Can the Fact that Daryl Had a Glock Yesterday Be Used to Prove that He Had an AK-47 Today?
When a defendant is charged with possession of a firearm by a felon, may the prosecution introduce, under Rule 404(b), evidence that the defendant previously possessed a different firearm? Courts […]
March 28, 2017
When Does a Seizure Occur When an Officer’s Vehicle Displays Emergency Lights That Directs a Vehicle to Stop?
Jeff Welty wrote a post in 2010 on when a seizure occurs after an officer operates emergency lights to order a driver to stop his or her vehicle. This post […]
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- Maggie Bailey
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