North Carolina Lawyers Weekly

Plaintiffs have not obtained a judgment against the owner and driver of the vehicle that caused the underlying accident, and the allegations in plaintiffs’ complaint show that plaintiffs never came to a meeting of the minds in their settlement agreement ...

Tagged with: Tort-Negligence

Because defense counsel had appeared on defendant’s behalf, defendant violated N.C. R. Civ. P. 11 when he subsequently filed eight pro se motions and initiated a civil suit against plaintiff for actions that took place prior to a consent order, ...

Tagged with: Civil Practice

Even if the trial court should have granted defendant’s motion to strike his accomplice’s testimony, any such error was not prejudicial given the state’s other evidence that defendant was trafficking heroin. We find no prejudicial error in defendant’s convictions for ...

Tagged with: Criminal Practice

At the time of defendant’s trial for kidnapping and attempted human trafficking of a minor, the state was unable to find the victim, “Amy.” Over defendant’s objection, the trial court allowed the state to enter into evidence Amy’s testimony from ...

Tagged with: Criminal Practice

Defendant correctly notes that G.S. § 14-51.3 supplants the common law on all aspects of the law of self-defense addressed by its provisions; however, contrary to defendant’s argument, the aggressor doctrine is still intact pursuant to G.S. § 14-51.4(2). We ...

Tagged with: Criminal Practice

Even though the prosecution’s chemist relied upon raw data generated by other SBI analysts, the testifying chemist conducted his own independent analysis of the data in accordance with SBI procedures and methodology. An expert may base his opinion on the ...

Tagged with: Criminal Practice

By the time of the hearing on the probation violations defendant committed during the term of probation, his probation term had expired. The trial court expressly stated, “Good cause exists for the revocation of probation, given the defendant committed new ...

Tagged with: Criminal Practice

Plaintiff’s proffered damages expert, Scott Barnes, bases his opinions on claims that were dismissed at the summary judgment stage. Such opinions are inherently irrelevant. The court grants defendants’ motion to exclude Barnes’ report and to limit plaintiff’s evidence of damages. ...

Tagged with: Civil Practice

During the one-year romantic relationship between defendant and Marquise McCall, which included two weeks of living together, defendant (1) punched McCall’s four-year-old son in the chest (before they moved in together), (2) beat McCall’s daughter with a belt, and (3) ...

Tagged with: Criminal Practice

In a scheme to bring methamphetamine from Georgia to North Carolina, on the North Carolina leg of the return trip, defendant was in the lead car and was never in the car carrying the meth. Nevertheless, the prosecution proved constructive ...

Tagged with: Criminal Practice