A UNC School of Government Blog
The rules for sentencing a defendant to special probation—a split sentence—are set out in G.S. 15A-1351(a). Under that law, the court can order as part of a probationary sentence that the defendant serve a period of imprisonment not exceeding one-fourth the maximum suspended sentence imposed (or, in impaired driving cases, one-fourth of the maximum penalty … Read more
Under G.S. 15A-1345(e), a probationer is entitled at a probation violation hearing to “confront and cross-examine adverse witnesses unless the court finds good cause for not allowing confrontation.” What does that statute mean by confrontation? The statute’s language comes directly from a 1973 case called Gagnon v. Scarpelli, 411 U.S. 778 (1973), in which the … Read more
According to data from the Division of Community Corrections, 1270 probationers had their probation revoked in December 2010. Of those, 232 revocations were based on new crimes. I’ve written before about some of the issues associated with new criminal charges as a violation of probation, a post you can read here. To sum that post … Read more