Defendants who’ve pleaded guilty of a crime are entitled to post-conviction DNA testing if they’ve shown that the results could be material to their case, the North Carolina Supreme Court has ruled in a case of first impression.  The March ...

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  The threshold that an indigent defendant must clear before being appointed counsel to assist him in an effort to obtain post-conviction DNA testing is more relaxed than the one that must be met in order to actually obtain such ...

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When defendant requested an order “to Locate and Preserve Evidence,” this did not constitute a request for an inventory under G.S. § 15A-268, which would have required custodial agencies to make an inventory of the biological evidence. Although, under G.S. ...

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G.S. § 15A-269 was not intended to completely forestall the filing of a motion for post-conviction DNA testing where a defendant entered a plea of guilty. A trial court is obligated to consider the facts surrounding a defendant’s decision to ...

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  Where defendant requested post-conviction DNA testing and discovery under G.S. § 15A-269, the trial court erred when it denied the request based on grounds for denial of a motion for appropriate relief. Vacated and remanded. A motion for post-conviction ...

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Although defendant has no constitutional right to appeal the denial of his motion for post-conviction DNA testing, this court has the authority to decide whether or not to conduct an Anders review when defendant’s appellate counsel can identify no issues ...

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State v. Ward (Lawyers Weekly No. 011-358-16, 16 pp.) (Wanda Bryant, J.) Appealed from Mecklenburg County Superior Court (Robert Sumner, J.) N.C. App. Holding: Even though mold in the police department laboratory contaminated some DNA samples, since defense counsel determined ...

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U.S. v. Cowley (Lawyers Weekly No. 001-041-16, 21 pp.) (Dillon, J.) No. 15-6067, Feb. 29, 2016; USDC at Charleston, W.Va. (Copenhaver, J.) 4th Cir. Holding: A defendant does not need a Certificate of Appealability in order to appeal denial of ...

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State v. Cox (Lawyers Weekly No. 011-046-16, 9 pp.) (Rick Elmore, J.) Appealed from Brunswick County Superior Court (Ola Lewis, J.) N.C. App. Holding: In his motion for DNA testing, defendant claims merely that “there is a very reasonable probability ...

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RALEIGH (AP) — A North Carolina man has been arrested in a 14-year-old rape case after police say a DNA sample connected him to the crime. Maurice Barry-Albert Sullivan of Raleigh was arrested Thursday and charged with first-degree rape and ...

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