North Carolina Office of Indigent Defense Services
On June 21, 2024, the Supreme Court issued an important decision in Smith v. Arizona. This is a good opinion; you should know about it if you don’t already. If you’d like to join an informal discussion of this case and its importance for NC defenders, Phil Dixon and I will be talking about it on the …
Smith v. Arizona and testimony of substitute analystsRead More
This update was originally posted on Apr. 10, 2024 on North Carolina Criminal Law, a UNC School of Government Blog available here. In Part I of my Spring 2024 cannabis update, I discussed the search and seizure issues arising in North Carolina courts around cannabis. Part II explores drug identification evidence issues surrounding marijuana prosecutions and examines …
This update was originally posted on Apr. 8, 2024 on North Carolina Criminal Law, a UNC School of Government Blog available here. It has been a while since my last post on cannabis and criminal law issues, and it is past time for an update. In addition to a number of state cases grappling with …
In some cases involving cell phone extractions, public defenders and other criminal defense attorneys are being provided with incomplete discovery. When the prosecution provides only PDF and UFED Reader reports to defense counsel, this is not complete discovery. While the UFED Reader reports can be helpful in navigating the phone’s data, the UFED Reader is …
The Autism Society partnered with Legal Reform for the Intellectually & Developmentally Disabled to produce an FAQ for Public Defenders on how to work with a client with Autism. An FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin found that Americans with Autism are seven times more likely to be victims of crime due to vulnerability, twelve times more likely to become …
FAQs to assist with representing clients with AutismRead More
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
Whether the prosecution can use rap lyrics as evidence of a defendant’s guilt comes up regularly in criminal cases. Researchers have found evidence of rap lyrics being introduced in hundreds of criminal cases nationwide. In North Carolina, the use of rap lyrics was upheld in the unpublished Court of Appeals decision, State v. Allen, NC …
Last week an article in The Assembly, The Shooter in the Video, came across my virtual desk. The article focused on the case of James Richardson, who was convicted of murder in Pitt County in 2011, and the work of his family, supporters and his post-conviction attorney Heather Rattelade to overturn his conviction. A key …
Some common questions come up in homicide cases when a defense attorney needs to access information from the OCME and regional autopsy centers and speak with the forensic pathologist who performed the autopsy in the case. This post addresses some of these questions using information obtained from the four offices that perform autopsies for North …
Cost and procedures for accessing autopsy informationRead More
Defenders should make sure they are familiar with how recent legislative changes affect remote testimony by lab analysts, especially in district court. Shea Denning’s post on the School of Government Blog provides an in-depth analysis of the changes. The AOC provided a memo on the issue, available here. The AOC has also created the AOC-CR-346 …
Overview: Blood concentrations of THC and its metabolites are not sufficient to prove impairment. Testimony about additional signs of impairment is necessary to prove impairment. The main reasons for the disconnect between THC blood concentration and impairment is that impairment occurs in the brain, not the blood, and the chemical nature of THC causes it …
Have you received a lab report in a DWI case where blood is tested by the State Crime Lab for cannabinoids? If so, the report probably had a section that looked like this: When forensic labs test blood for marijuana, they test for the presence of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which is the primary psychoactive component of …
This post addresses questions that I get from defenders who are seeking to challenge the admissibility of expert testimony under NC Rule of Evidence 702. I’ll address the nuts and bolts of how and when to make a 702 challenge for attorneys who haven’t yet challenged expert testimony. All defenders should read the NC Superior …
Challenging expert testimony at trial under Rule 702Read More
There have been several posts on this and related topics here and here. This post will attempt to compile all of the resources and walk attorneys through the process of making these challenges. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 90-87(16) provides the statutory definition of marijuana, specifically excluding from its definition industrial hemp. Industrial hemp, as defined in …
Challenging an officer’s identification of marijuana by sight or smellRead More
I posted in June 2020 about conducting mental health evaluations on in-custody clients during the COVID-19 pandemic here. In some cases, evaluations have proceeded. In others, defense teams have sought motions to continue to the dangers inherent in-person mental health evaluations of in-custody clients during the COVID-19 pandemic. This declaration by epidemiologist Eric T. Lofgren, …
