North Carolina Lawyers Weekly

Claims by a defendant convicted of conspiracy in a luxury car scheme that a judge’s jury instruction constructively amended the indictment against him in violation of the Fifth Amendment, was rejected, as the instruction did not alter the element of ...

Where plaintiffs’ motion for a new trial under N.C. R. Civ. P. 59 merely asked the trial court to reconsider its earlier decision to grant defendants’ summary judgment motion – even citing specific paragraphs of plaintiffs’ summary judgment affidavit as ...

Although the defendant-husband challenges the trial court’s determination that he acted in bad faith, the only specific finding that defendant challenges is Finding of Fact 31, which states, “Defendant testified he quit his last employment.” Even if Finding of Fact ...

Even if an expert witness favored defendants in black lung cases, violated applicable standards, and misled coal miners and the Black Lung Benefits Act tribunals, that witness – like other witnesses – is entitled to absolute immunity from plaintiffs’ RICO ...

A gag order imposed by the district court overseeing suits against the owners of hog farms breached basic First Amendment principles.  Background Hundreds of plaintiffs have alleged that nearby hog farms associated with Murphy-Brown LLC are a private nuisance. Plaintiffs ...

At the office where a DMV inspector worked, he had the authority to arrest defendant after she caused a disturbance and refused to leave the premises. We find no error in defendant’s convictions of resisting a law enforcement officer and ...

In response to a domestic violence call, police officers kept defendant outside his house while his girlfriend was questioned inside the house. During this questioning, the girlfriend not only confirmed a 911 caller’s report of domestic violence, but she also ...

The only evidence of defendant’s prior record level was a certified copy of his DCI Computerized Criminal History Report, but the DCI report merely lists defendant’s 2012 conviction for drug paraphernalia possession without shedding light on whether the paraphernalia charge ...

Police Corporal J.B. Keltner stopped defendant for running a red light. Even if – after defendant performed roadside sobriety tests satisfactorily – Cpl. Keltner lacked reasonable suspicion to extend the traffic stop, since Cpl. Keltner had (1) observed an open ...

Where a now-deceased witness’s statements to a police officer were made in an effort to assist in the apprehension of armed suspects, the statements were not testimonial. Therefore, their admission did not violate defendant’s rights under the Confrontation Clause of ...