North Carolina Lawyers Weekly

  In this private termination of parental rights (TPR) case, petitioner showed that the respondent-mother willfully abandoned “Larry.” When respondent was jobless and homeless, she gave petitioner, her cousin, custody of Larry and, while it is true that petitioner blocked ...

  Where DSS never filed a petition seeking to have the trial court adjudicate respondent’s minor daughter, “Ella,” an abused, neglected or dependent juvenile, the trial court lacked subject-matter jurisdiction to conduct permanency planning and review hearings, and its orders ...

  The record supports the trial court’s conclusion that there was past neglect and a probability of future neglect of the minor child. Whether the respondent-mother’s failure to comply with her case plan was willful is not relevant. When determining ...

    Since a convicted defendant failed to show that biological evidence “is material” or “may be material” to his defense, is related to his prosecution, and either was not tested previously or could now be more accurately tested, he ...

  Where (1) the respondent-mother’s parental rights to baby “Eric’s” three elder siblings were terminated after they were removed due to neglect issues involving substance abuse, domestic violence, unstable housing and improper supervision; (2) at birth, Eric tested positive for ...

  Although petitioner points to a different statutory provision that he contends the sheriff should have applied when considering his concealed carry permit, since mental health records raised concerns of a diagnosis of “Personality Disorder Not Otherwise Specified,” the sheriff ...

  The only witness at a hearing on abuse and neglect allegations was the supervisor of the social worker who interviewed the respondent-father’s daughters. Even if a proper foundation was laid for the Department of Health and Human Services records, ...

  After defendant’s conviction for two counts of felonious indecent exposure, the trial court made findings of fact regarding the reasonableness of monitoring defendant by satellite-based monitoring (SBM). Nevertheless, since the trial court predicated its directive primarily on a finding ...

  Even though the trial court heard evidence of defendant’s attempts to avoid detection after the probation violation report was filed, there was also sufficient evidence to show defendant had willfully absconded from supervision before the report was filed. We ...

  Even though plaintiff presented several experts who testified about the anxiety and depression allegedly caused by her stressful job with an insurance company, the Industrial Commission was free to give the most weight to the testimony of plaintiff’s psychiatrist, ...