State v. Clark (Lawyers Weekly No. 15-07-0672, 8 pp.) (Chris Dillon, J.) Appealed from Caldwell County Superior Court (C. Thomas Edwards, J.) N.C. App. Holding: The documents used to convict defendant of driving while license revoked – a copy of ...

Tagged with: Confrontation clause

In re C.W.F. (Lawyers Weekly No. 15-06-0097, 1 p.) (Per Curiam) Appealed from Moore County District Court (Don W. Creed Jr., J.) On discretionary review from the Court of Appeals. N.C. S. Ct. Holding: Where our Court of Appeals vacated ...

Tagged with: Confrontation clause

State v. Shaw (Lawyers Weekly No. 14-07-1180, 13 pp.) (Mark Davis, J.) Appealed from Mecklenburg County Superior Court (Sharon Tracey Barrett, J.) N.C. App. Holding: At 12:30 a.m. on a Saturday in an area where numerous establishments served alcohol late ...

Tagged with: Confrontation clause dwi

State v. Howard (Lawyers Weekly No. 14-16-1145, 12 pp.) (Mark Davis, J.) Appealed from Forsyth County Superior Court (Gary Gavenus, J.) N.C. App. Unpub. Holding: The state’s expert explained the instrumentation and methodology used by the hospital in testing defendant’s ...

Tagged with: Confrontation clause

U.S. v. DeLeon Statements made by defendant’s eight-year-old stepson to a social worker about defendant’s abuse were nontestimonial, and admission of the statements did not violate defendant’s Confrontation Clause rights under Crawford v. Washington; the 4th Circuit upholds defendant’s convictions of second-degree murder and assault in the death of his stepson.

Tagged with: Confrontation clause Constitutional Criminal Practice

State v. Weathers When defendant threatened the life of a witness and his family, defendant forfeited his right to cross-examine the witness. The trial court did not abuse its discretion when it denied defendant’s motion for a mistrial.

Tagged with: Confrontation clause Constitutional Criminal Practice first impression

State v. Lowery Defendant sought to cross-examine prosecution witnesses about their communications with their attorneys so defendant could prove that these witnesses knew they would not be prosecuted if they agreed to testify. However, the Confrontation Clause does not permit defendant to avoid the witnesses’ attorney-client privilege.

Tagged with: Confrontation clause Constitutional Criminal Practice

State v. Burrow The pills seized from defendant were identified only in an SBI report. The SBI analyst did not testify, and there was no indication that he was unavailable. It was plain error for the trial court to admit the SBI report through the testimony of a lay witness, a police detective.

Tagged with: Confrontation clause Constitutional Criminal Practice Plain Error

U.S. v. Ramos-Cruz The 4th Circuit says a defendant convicted of racketeering and various gang-related crimes cannot overturn his convictions with a claim that his Confrontation Clause rights were violated because the government allowed two El Salvadorian police officers to testify without revealing their identities

Tagged with: Confrontation clause Constitutional Criminal Practice

State v. Ross At the probable cause hearing, defendant was represented by counsel (who was one of his trial counsel), he had the same motive to cross-examine victim Besies as at trial, and his counsel did in fact cross-examine Besies; therefore, defendant had an adequate opportunity to cross-examine Besies. Since Besies was unavailable to testify at trial, the trial court did not violate defendant’s right to confront the witnesses against him when the court admitted Besies’ testimony from the probable cause hearing into evidence.

Tagged with: Aggravating Factors Attempted Murder Confrontation clause Constitutional Criminal Practice Intent to Kill sentencing Serious Injury