North Carolina Lawyers Weekly

If defendant had been sentenced under the First Step Act – passed shortly after defendant was sentenced but expressly not retroactively applicable – his 168-month sentence would have been less than half the sentence he received pursuant to his plea ...

Tagged with: Criminal Practice

Defendant alleges that the government made misrepresentations about the DNA tests that contributed to his conviction. However, he filed his motion for relief under Fed. R. Civ. P. 60(b)(3) well outside the rule’s one-year limit. On this matter of first ...

Tagged with: Criminal Practice

Since the parties’ child, “Elizabeth,” has reached the age to attend pre-kindergarten, this circumstance and others support the trial court’s finding of a change of circumstances affecting Elizabeth’s welfare. Over the course of the months leading up to the time ...

Tagged with: Domestic Relations

The trial court found that the respondent-Mother was unfit or had acted inconsistently with her constitutional right to parent, yet the court concluded that Mother was unfit and had acted inconsistently with her constitutional right to parent. Nevertheless, the record ...

Tagged with: Domestic Relations

Where the respondent-mother refuses to end her relationship with four-year-old “Grace’s” father despite respondent’s own admission that he “would have killed” Grace if she had been present during incidents of domestic violence, the trial court could conclude that neglect would ...

Tagged with: Domestic Relations

The defendant-juvenile admitted to pointing a shotgun at his mother, and the trial court entered a disposition order placing the juvenile in DSS custody. As all parties agree, the trial court failed to make the findings of fact required by ...

Tagged with: Criminal Practice

The respondent-father was incarcerated pursuant to a multi-year sentence, “Noe’s” mother was missing, Noe had serious mental health issues, and respondent’s suggested caregiver – Noe’s paternal grandmother – refused to adhere to Noe’s treatment regimen. Accordingly, the trial court did ...

Tagged with: Domestic Relations

A caveat alleged that propounder – the decedent’s brother – unduly influenced the decedent and that the decedent lacked testamentary capacity at the time she executed the will, which left the decedent’s property to propounder rather than to her two ...

Tagged with: Trusts and Estates

After adjudicating the juvenile defendant delinquent for simple misdemeanor possession of marijuana, the trial court entered a disposition order which did not include findings demonstrating that it considered the factors set out in G.S. § 7B-2501(c). The plain language of ...

Tagged with: Criminal Practice

Defendant’s vehicle collided with the rear of plaintiff’s vehicle on the interstate. Although defendant admitted she did not know whether plaintiff was in another lane, defendant also testified that plaintiff merged into her lane without warning. Since the jury could ...

Tagged with: Tort/Negligence