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Ex-North Carolina DA convicted of hiring fellow DA’s wife
RALEIGH (AP) A former prosecutor in North Carolina has been convicted of providing a no-show job for a colleague’s wife. News outlets reported a jury convicted former Person and Caswell County District Attorney Wallace Bradsher on June 18 of obtaining property by false pretense, assisting in obtaining property by false pretense, felony and misdemeanor obstruction of […]
Justices uphold convictions, death sentence in child’s death
RALEIGH (AP) The North Carolina Supreme Court has upheld the convictions and death sentence of a man for the kidnapping, sexual assault and asphyxiation death of a 5-year-old girl who police said was handed over by her mother to settle a $200 debt. The justices ruled June 8 that Mario Andrette McNeill received a fair […]
Legal technicality is latest twist in infant killing case
RALEIGH (AP) The case against a man accused of murdering his infant daughter took another unusual turn March 20 when North Carolina’s appeals court ruled that a judge shouldn’t have bypassed a jury to find him guilty. Todd Eric Boderick’s 2016 conviction of first-degree murder represented one of the first homicide trials under a state legal […]
Criminal Practice – Despite conviction vacatur, civil commitment stands
United States v. Welsh (Lawyers Weekly No. 001-012-18, 22 pp.) (Diaz, J.) No. 17-6355; Jan. 12, 2018; USDC at Raleigh, N.C. (Dever, J.) 4th Cir. Holding: Under the Adam Walsh Child Protection & Safety Act, appellant Welsh’s civil commitment – which was based on his confinement for a prior offense – was not voided by […]
COA vacates conviction over lack of notice about new law
Ignorance of the law excuses no one, or so the ancient legal maxim goes, but like most legal maxims, this chestnut has a few exceptions. On March 15, the North Carolina Court of Appeals ruled that a 2013 law—which makes it a felony for anyone with a conviction for possessing or manufacturing methamphetamines to buy […]
Tale of the tape: New trial ordered for convicted murderer
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — The Florida Supreme Court is tossing the murder convictions and death sentences of a Tampa Bay area man accused of killing his estranged wife and her boyfriend. The court in a 4-3 ruling concluded there were multiple errors in the trial of Patrick Evans. Authorities say Elizabeth Evans and Jerry Taylor […]
What it means to put an eye out
In a case that gained national attention, the N.C. Court of Appeals recently leaned on decisions from California and Texas — and a definition from the New Oxford American Dictionary — to clarify its malicious maiming statute, ruling that causing one to lose eyesight, without physically removing an eye, is sufficient for conviction. In State […]
Criminal Practice – Armed Robbery – Bullets
State v. Bell Even though defendant presented evidence that he unloaded the gun before he went into an insurance office, pointed the gun at the victim, and demanded money, there was also evidence that defendant was aware from almost the moment he left the insurance office that the police were watching him, he chose to flee, and he attempted to hide evidence by disposing of it in the wood[...]
Administrative – Immigration – Waiver Petition – Va. Marijuana Case – Deferred Adjudication – No ‘Conviction’
Crespo v. Holder (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-01-0056, 10 pp.) (Shedd, J.) No. 09-2214, Jan. 11, 2011; On Petition for Review. 4th Cir. Click here for the full text of the opinion. Holding: A Peruvian’s 1997 Virginia adjudication for marijuana possession pursuant to Va. Code § 18.2-251, in which a judge deferred adjudication and ordered probation, […]
Criminal Practice – Sentencing – Plea Offer – Rejection – Conviction – Rape of a Child – Reward & Punishment
State v. Pinkerton. (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-07-0690, 29 pp.) (Sam Ervin IV, J.) (Robert N. Hunter, J., dissenting) Appealed from Johnston County Superior Court. (James F. Ammons, J.) N.C. App. Holding: Defendant rejected a plea bargain, was convicted on all counts, and said in his allocution, “I loved you all.” The trial court told defendant […]
Criminal Practice – Appeals – Motion to Suppress – Denial – Plea Bargain – Conviction
State v. Miller. (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-07-0684, 3 pp.) (Linda M. McGee, J.) Appealed from Buncombe County Superior Court. (C. Phillip Ginn, J.) N.C. App. Holding: Although defendant preserved his right to appeal by filing written notice of intent to appeal from the denial of his motion to suppress, he failed to appeal from his […]
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