North Carolina Lawyers Weekly
After an automobile accident in North Carolina, the Tennessee plaintiff (1) filed suit against the Tennessee defendant within Tennessee’s one-year statute of limitations; (2) filed a voluntary dismissal without prejudice under Tenn. R. Civ. P. 41.01, which gave her one ...
Read More »Civil Practice – Voluntary Dismissal – Tennessee Statute of Limitations
Municipal – Zoning – Asphalt Plant Permit – Ordinance Requirements – Preliminary Determination – Moratorium & Ordinance Choice 
Where a county planning department official makes an interlocutory determination, and where an applicant relies on that determination to its detriment, the determination must be appealed by the county to its board of adjustment within 30 days; otherwise, the official’s ...
Read More »Criminal Practice – Expunction – Appeal by State – No Statutory Authorization – First Impression
Where G.S. § 15A-145.5(c)(3) designates a petition for an expunction as “a motion in the cause in the case wherein the petitioner was convicted,” an expunction petition is part of the underlying criminal proceeding, making expunctions criminal matters. The statute ...
Read More »Criminal Practice – Manufacturing Marijuana – Indictment Allegations – Intent to Distribute
An indictment alleged that defendant manufactured marijuana in four different ways (“producing, preparing, propagating and processing”), one of which (preparing) required a showing of an intent to distribute and three of which (producing, propagating and processing) did not. Although the ...
Read More »Corporate Securities – Fraud – Inconsistent Verdicts – Jury Instructions – Safe Harbor
Where the statement that a start-up’s CEO made to the plaintiff-investors was more detailed than the statement made by the defendant-director, the jury could find the director liable for making false and misleading statements while finding that the CEO ...
Read More »Criminal Practice – Jury & Jurors – Evidence – Photos in Jury Room – Self-Defense – Aggressor Instruction
While the trial court erred by allowing the jury to examine the 179 photographs that had been admitted into evidence in the jury room without defendant’s consent, that error was not prejudicial given the extensive evidence of defendant’s guilt ...
Read More »Criminal Practice – Indictment – Victim’s Name – ‘Victim #1’ Insufficient
G.S. § 15-144.2(b) requires that an indictment for a sex offense against a child victim name the child. An indictment alleging that defendant committed a sexual offense with a child by an adult against “Victim #1” was insufficient under the ...
Read More »Criminal Practice –DWI – Motion to Suppress – Probable Cause
Our Court of Appeals reversed an order granting defendant’s motion to suppress. We affirm the Court of Appeals’ decision (The trial court’s findings regarding defendant’s excessive speed (80 in a 65-mph zone), his abrupt unsafe movement almost resulting in a ...
Read More »Civil Practice – Civil Commitment – Appeals – Issue Preservation – Examination by Second Physician
After respondent was involuntarily committed, her second statutory examination was conducted by a psychologist, despite the fact that G.S. § 122C-266(a) requires the examination to be conducted by a physician. Respondent failed to raise this issue at her hearing ...
Read More »Criminal Practice – Late Trial Calendar – No Prejudice – Rebuttal Witness Exclusion
Even though the prosecutor did not provide defendant with the trial calendar contemplated by G.S. § 7A-49.4(e) at least 10 working days before trial, since defendant’s trial had been scheduled months earlier – giving him ample time to prepare – ...
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