North Carolina Criminal Law Blog

The North Carolina Supreme Court decided State v. Jones, ___ N.C. ___ (2018) on Friday, affirming the court of appeals’ determination that the citation that charged the defendant with transporting an open container of alcoholic beverage, but left out several elements, was legally sufficient to invoke the trial court’s subject matter jurisdiction.

Author’s Note:  This post has been modified from its original version in response to a helpful comment by a reader.

An officer sees a man drink from a can of beer while the man drives through a public parking deck. The officer stops the man’s car and sees the beer bottle can in plain view. He then asks the man to step out of the vehicle. May the officer open the car’s console to search for additional evidence?

One of the newest attractions in downtown Raleigh is the Trolley Pub. Passengers board the open air bar on wheels in the Warehouse District and slowly cruise the city streets, […]

[Editor’s note: This post was revised slightly on January 25, 2011, in response to a helpful comment.] Here’s a quiz. Ashley Angel, who is 21 and a senior in college, […]