A jury will decide if a prison official’s decision to pepper spray an inmate after he head-butted an officer and was lying on his back in handcuffs was “clearly necessary” to respond to a threat to officer safety or to ...
Read More »Civil Rights – Necessity of pepper spray a jury question
Municipal Impact – Fees – Civil Practice – Class Action – Certification – Refund Claim 
Even if there were a statute of repose requiring plaintiffs to challenge an impact-fee ordinance within nine months of the ordinance’s passage, plaintiffs challenge the collection of the impact fee rather than the adoption of the ordinance. Moreover, the ...
Read More »Tort/Negligence– Economic Loss Rule – Commercial Construction – Supplier’s Negligence 
In the context of a commercial real estate project, the economic loss rule bars a negligence claim by the developer against a subcontractor. We affirm the Business Court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the subcontractor. The plaintiff-developer ...
Read More »Criminal Practice – Appeals – Restitution – Civil Judgment – No Entry 
Although the judgment and commitment entered by the trial court include a directive for entry of a civil judgment against defendant for restitution to the victim, no such civil judgment appears in the record on appeal. Absent entry of the ...
Read More »Criminal Practice – Bond Forfeiture – Motion to Set Aside – Sanctions Motion – Jurisdiction 
Defendant’s surety moved to set aside the forfeiture of its bond after defendant failed to appear (he was deported). The appellant-school board moved for sanctions because the surety’s motion did not include the documentation required by G.S. § 15A-544.5. Without ...
Read More »Criminal Practice – Sex Offender Registration – Constitutional – Ex Post Facto 
Defendant, who was convicted of rape in 1977, argues that the trial court’s application of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act to deny his petition for removal from the sex offender registry violates the ex post facto clauses of ...
Read More »Criminal Practice – Armed Robbery – Acting in Concert – Armed Brother – Lesser Included Offense 
Defendant was not entitled to dismissal of the armed robbery charge against him. A reasonable inference that defendant was acting in concert with his armed brother and with assailant Lonnie Degraffenreidt arises from the state’s evidence: Defendant and Degraffenreidt were ...
Read More »Civil Practice – Appeals – Missing File Stamp – Service on Defendant 
Plaintiff’s notice of appeal in the record has not been file-stamped. This is a jurisdictional defect because this court cannot determine if the notice of appeal was timely filed. Appeal dismissed. In addition, judgment was entered on 7 December 2018, ...
Read More »Criminal Practice – Armed Robbery – Victim’s Testimony – Gang Affiliation – Relevance 
The victim of an armed robbery could testify about defendants’ alleged gang affiliation in order to explain why he (the victim) carried a handgun after having engaged in a fistfight with defendant Randolph and having a different gun stolen from ...
Read More »Criminal Practice – Cocaine Sale & Delivery – Controlled Buy – Evidence – Other Sales 
At defendant’s trial for possession with intent to sell and deliver cocaine and sale and delivery of cocaine arising out of a 25 February 2015 controlled buy by a confidential informant, the trial court did not abuse its discretion when ...
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