North Carolina Office of Indigent Defense Services
// by Phil Dixon, Jr.
Originally posted on North Carolina Criminal Law – A UNC School of Government Blog Readers may have heard of the plant commonly known as khat or qat (or Catha edulis, for the botanically inclined). The plant is indigenous to Africa and is popular in parts of that continent, as well as parts of the Middle East, and is …
<a href="https://nccriminallaw.sog.unc.edu/possession-of-khat/">Possession of Khat</a>Read More
// by Phil Dixon, Jr.
In case you missed it, the COA released State v. Booth on Oct. 18, 2022, dealing in part with lay opinions by officers identifying marijuana as such based on sight and odor only and without a proper lab test identifying the levels of delta-9 THC. The officer in Booth was permitted to testify that he could …
// by Phil Dixon, Jr.
Reposted with permission. Originally posted here on the North Carolina Criminal Law blog. I’m pleased to announce a new collaboration between the Public Defense Education team at the School of Government and Indigent Defense Services. I frequently get questions from defense lawyers about expert witnesses. Where do you find experts? How do you know which …
// by Phil Dixon, Jr.
This is a re-post from UNC School of Government North Carolina Criminal Law blog. The original post appears here. A new book by Brandon Garrett is a deep dive into the misuse of forensic evidence in criminal courtrooms. To borrow from its description, Autopsy of a Crime Lab: Exposing the Flaws of Forensics “is the first book …
New Online CLE based on Autopsy of a Crime Lab: Exposing the Flaws of ForensicsRead More
// by Phil Dixon, Jr.
Originally posted on June 16, 2020 on the North Carolina Criminal Law blog On Thursday, June 4, 2020, the North Carolina General Assembly passed S.B. 315, referred to as the State Farm Bill, which was subsequently signed into law by the Governor. The bill was pending all last session and stalled, allegedly over a dispute about how …
// by Phil Dixon, Jr.
Originally posted on Nov. 12, 2019 on the North Carolina Criminal Law blog. The advent of cannabis legalization across the country has led to a proliferation of new types of cannabis products. There are skin patches, food and drinks (for humans and pets), vaporizer or “vape” cartridges (or “carts”), and different concentrate or extract products (“dabs”, “wax” or “shatter”, among other names). [Click …
Carts, Wax, and Oh, My: The New World of Marijuana ExtractsRead More
// by Phil Dixon, Jr.
Originally posted on May 21, 2019 on the North Carolina Criminal Law blog. Back in November of last year, I wrote about hemp and CBD laws here. I have been teaching quite a bit on the subject lately and wanted to follow up that post with an examination of how legal use of hemp products …
// by Phil Dixon, Jr.
Any practitioner that handles driving while impaired charges knows the significance of field-sobriety tests (“FSTs”) to the investigation and prosecution of drunk driving. Scientific research supports the basic idea behind the tests — that test performance on FSTs is an indicator of alcohol impairment. What about when the impairing substance isn’t alcohol at all? Do …
Mass. Supreme Court Considers Relevance of FSTs for Marijuana ImpairmentRead More