North Carolina Lawyers Weekly

  Even though a separate direct condemnation action established that the plaintiff-town’s installation of a sewer pipe across defendant’s property was not for a public purpose, the issues of ownership of the pipe itself and as to whether equitable doctrines ...

  Although, in an earlier judgment in this condemnation action, the trial court agreed with the defendant-landowner that the plaintiff-town’s installation of a sewer line across her property was not done for a public purpose, since the landowner did not ...

  Under G.S. § 15A-1351(a), defendant’s 60-month probation included his 330-day active sentence, which commenced on 7 October 2014. As such, defendant’s probation ended in 2019, and the trial court lacked jurisdiction to revoke his probation pursuant to violation reports ...

Although consent and ignorance of a victim’s age are not defenses to statutory rape, a defendant must nevertheless have intended to commit the act of sexual intercourse. Therefore, statutory rape, like other crimes that can support a conviction for felony ...

  Defendant claimed that, if he touched his daughters’ breasts, it was unintentional because he had no feeling in his hands. During summation, the prosecutor called this a “ridiculous excuse” and pointed out that, during trial, defendant had used his ...

  On the sixth day of defendant’s trial for a horrific assault on his girlfriend, he jumped 16 feet from a mezzanine, breaking his leg. The trial court conducted a sufficient inquiry into defendant’s competence—hearing from several witnesses and viewing ...

  According to State v. Ingram, 242 N.C. App. 173, 774 S.E.2d 433 (2015), “as the proceeding [in question] was a suppression hearing, the trial court was not bound by the formal rules of evidence…” A state trooper’s testimony as ...

At defendant’s resentencing (after a motion for appropriate relief), before asking defendant to sign a waiver of his right to counsel, the trial court asked him only if he wished to continue to represent himself. Absent a more searching inquiry, ...

Although the petitioner-prisoner asserted that he suffered from respiratory illnesses and presented prison medical records showing treatment for such illnesses, since petitioner—who was imprisoned for crimes involving dishonesty—did not seek treatment for such illnesses until news of the COVID-19 pandemic ...

Although defendant had twice knowingly waived counsel, once the jury was empaneled, he requested the appointment of standby counsel. The trial court said, “Seeing no attorneys in the courtroom, other than prosecutors, that request is denied.” After a brief recess, ...