North Carolina Lawyers Weekly

When read as a whole, the statutory scheme for sentencing juveniles convicted of first-degree murder does not presume that the sentence should be life without the possibility of parole. We modify and affirm the Court of Appeals’ decision, which reversed ...

Tagged with: Constitutional

We affirm the holding of the Court of Appeals (Defendant was found (1) in possession of illegal drugs on high school grounds where he was not a student, (2) in possession of “unsellable” remnant marijuana in two larger bags near ...

Tagged with: Marijuana

We improvidently granted discretionary review of the Court of Appeals’ decision (The trial court’s instruction allowed the jury to convict defendant of misdemeanor child abuse if it determined that the punishment administered by defendant was not “moderate,” without giving further ...

Tagged with: Paddling

We reverse for the reasons stated in Chief Judge McGee’s dissent (Defendant’s evidence regarding the events immediately before the victim drowned was contradictory to the state’s evidence on the same point; therefore, it should not be considered in ruling on ...

Tagged with: evidence

The government didn’t violate due process by showing a kidnapping victim a photo array with the defendant’s image cropped from his music group’s promotional poster, which the victim had seen before. Background In the summer of 2012, two U.S. citizens ...

Tagged with: Photo ID

Two Greek entities were vicariously liable for violations of international maritime-pollution laws by their cargo vessel’s crewmembers, as well as for the crewmembers attempts to conceal those violations. Background In 2015, the cargo vessel Ocean Hope – owned and operated ...

Tagged with: sludge

G.S. § 90-87(15) excludes from the definition of “manufacture” “the preparation or compounding of a controlled substance by an individual for his own use.” Therefore, an indictment which alleges the manufacture of marijuana by preparation must also allege an intent ...

Tagged with: Marijuana

Without providing notice of an insanity or diminished capacity defense, defendant – himself – sought to testify about his Attention Deficit Disorder, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Pediatric Bipolar Disorder, and Oppositional Defiant Disorder. The trial court properly found that such ...

Tagged with: evidence

Although the state presented evidence of 100 feet of tire impressions veering off a highway, past a scuffed boulder, and ending at a damaged, unoccupied vehicle whose registered owner (defendant) was found walking along the same highway disoriented and unsteady ...

Tagged with: dwi

In addition to defendant’s statement to the investigating state trooper that he was the driver of the wrecked vehicle and defendant’s appearance of intoxication, the state presented sufficient independent corroborating evidence that defendant had been driving the wrecked vehicle: (1) ...

Tagged with: dwi