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Trio face 1000-plus charges for break-ins
Greensboro police say three men face more than 1,100 charges for breaking into more than 500 storage units.
Criminal Practice – Burglary – Fingerprint & Witness ID – Constitutional – Effective Assistance
State v. Hoff Even though the victim’s testimony as to his identification of defendant as the burglar was convoluted and self-contradictory, he had a clear opportunity to see the intruder, and his testimony that defendant was the man he saw in his house is not inherently incredible.
Criminal Practice – Burglary – Nighttime – Judicial Notice – Doctrine of Recent Possession
State v. Brown Even though there were a few minutes of light between the time the victim went to bed in Mebane (after dark) and the next morning when defendant’s girlfriend saw defendant enter her Durham apartment carrying bags of items stolen from the victim’s home, the state sufficiently proved that defendant stole the items during the nighttime. Defendant could not have stolen the [...]
Criminal Practice – Burglary – ‘Entry’ – Breaking or Entering – Robbery – Show-Up ID – Restitution
State v. Watkins Where the state showed only that the butt of a shotgun entered the victim’s home as it broke a window - after which defendant heard the victim inside the home and ran away - the state failed to show the “entry” required to convict defendant of first-degree burglary. However, in convicting defendant of burglary, the jury necessarily found all the elements of felon[...]
Criminal Practice – Evidence – Defendant’s Statement – Against Penal Interest – Burglary – Indictment – Armed Robbery
State v. Speight One of the police officers who helped arrest defendant testified that, when defendant was told of the charges against him, he responded, “Man, I’m a B and E guy.” Defendant’s statement may be viewed as a statement against penal interest under N.C. R. Evid. 804(b)(3).
Criminal Practice -Burglary – Sentencing – Armed Career Criminal Act
U.S. v. Baxter A defendant's 1976 burglary conviction under Virginia law qualifies as a predicate offense under the Armed Career Criminal Act, and the 4th Circuit upholds his mandatory minimum sentence of 180 months on a conviction of possession of a firearm as a convicted felon.
Criminal Practice – Burglary – Acting in Concert – Completed Role – No Withdrawal – Jury Instructions – ‘Not Guilty’ Choice
State v. Wright. (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-07-0349, 16 pp.) (Sanford L. Steelman Jr., J.) Appealed from Durham County Superior Court. (Cressie Thigpen Jr., J.) N.C. App. Click here for the full text of the opinion. Holding: Even though defendant expressed reluctance to participate in the home invasion planned by his co-conspirators, since defendant’s role was […]
Criminal Practice – Burglary Indictment – Acting in Concert – Jury Instructions
State v. Clagon. (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-07-0958, 9 pp.) (Sanford Steelman Jr., J.) Appealed from Martin County Superior Court (J. Richard Parker, J.) Click here for the full text of the opinion. Holding: An indictment for first-degree burglary is not required to specifically state the underlying felony on which the burglary charge is based. Where […]
Criminal Practice – Constitutional – Statement to Police – In-Trial Objection – Burglary – Nighttime
State v. Reavis. (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-07-0913, 18 pp.) (Donna S. Stroud, J.) Appealed from New Hanover County Superior Court. (Phyllis M. Gorham, J.) N.C. App. Holding: Where defendant made only constitutional objections to testimony about his statement to police, defendant was required to file a pretrial motion to suppress, rather than objecting at trial. […]
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Commentary
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