North Carolina Office of Indigent Defense Services
// by terrisims
A 3-judge panel found Willie Grimes innocent after thirty-minutes of deliberation on Friday. Grimes had been sentenced to life in prison in 1987 after being convicted of two counts of first degree rape and one count of second degree kidnapping. He was paroled in May of this year after serving twenty-four years in prison. Grimes’s …
Free at Last! Willie Grimes Exonerated by 3-Judge PanelRead More
// by terrisims
Both The New York Times and National Public Radio (NPR) report that a recent study suggests judges may impose lighter sentences in cases where a defendant, diagnosed as psychopathic, is genetically predisposed to violent behavior. The study, carried about by researchers at the University of Utah and published in the journal Science, tasked 181 judges …
Evidence of a Genetic Defect May Lead to Lighter Judge-Imposed SentencingRead More
// by Sarah Olson
Two programs featuring NC exonerees Greg Taylor and Darryl Hunt will be broadcast on April 12, 2012. The WRAL documentary, “6,149 Days” which premieres on April 12 at 8:00 pm recounts the flawed investigation that led to Greg Taylor’s conviction, Taylor’s 6,149 days in prison, and the fight to set him free. Steven D. Hammel, …
Greg Taylor and Darryl Hunt programs on April 12, 2012Read More
// by agrinesog
By Alyson Grine, Defender Educator, UNC School of Government In State v. Britt, __ N.C. App. __, __ S.E.2d __ (Dec. 6, 2011) the North Carolina Court of Appeals addressed the admissibility of expert testimony regarding firearms and toolmark identification. The facts, in brief: Nancy Britt, a Wake County school teacher, was shot and killed …
// by Sarah Olson
On November 22, the Fourth Circuit decided a case involving a Sixth Amendment ineffective assistance of counsel claim based on the failure of counsel to investigate the State’s forensic evidence. In Elmore v. Ozmint, the Court found Elmore was entitled to relief, reversing and remanding the state capital murder conviction and directing the district court …
// by Sarah Olson
In State v. Jones, __ N.C. App. __ (November 1, 2011), the NC Court of Appeals issued an important decision regarding the admissibility of NarTest evidence. NarTest is a private company that produces the NarTest NTX 2000 machine which has been used by local law enforcement in several cities and counties in North Carolina to …
// by Sarah Olson
The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers’ amicus brief in Bullcoming v. New Mexico is an excellent resource for attorneys who want to understand gas chromatography measurements of blood alcohol concentration (BAC) and possible challenges to that technique. Gas Chromatography or Headspace Gas Chromatography is the typical method used in North Carolina when the State …
// by Sarah Olson
A three-judge panel in Asheville ruled today that Kenneth Kagonyera and Robert Wilcoxson are innocent. The men who spent ten years in prison were exonerated by the judges’ ruling. This case which involved DNA testing that pointed to another suspect is the third case that has been heard by the N.C. Innocence Inquiry Commission and the …
Update to “Freedom on the line for two North Carolina men”Read More
// by Sarah Olson
By Charlotte Stewart, UNC Law Student This week a three-judge panel, formed as part of the N.C. Innocence Inquiry Commission process, is hearing a case which could exonerate two North Carolina men of murder convictions. Kenneth Kagonyera and Robert Wilcoxson were convicted of the murder of Walter Rodney Bowman in 2000 in Buncombe County. Last …
// by Sarah Olson
A Texas appeals court affirmed the exclusion of evidence that a dog identified a defendant’s scent in a “scent-lineup” in State v. Dominguez. The trial court found that human scent identification by a canine is not sufficiently reliable to be admitted in evidence in a criminal trial, based on the defendant’s motion to suppress and …
Texas court upholds exclusion of unreliable scent-lineup evidenceRead More