State v. Blue. (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-07-0957, 22 pp.) (John C. Martin, Ch.J.) Appealed from Robeson County Superior Court (Ola M. Lewis, J.) N.C. App. Click here for the full text of the opinion. Holding: When a defendant has considered ...

Tagged with: armed robbery Corpus Delicti Criminal Practice murder Robeson County

  State v. Ferguson. (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-07-0916, 38 pp.) (Sanford L. Steelman Jr., J.) Appealed from Mecklenburg County Superior Court. (David S. Cayer, J.) N.C. App. Holding: The facts that defendant left the victim dead or dying in his ...

Tagged with: armed robbery Criminal Practice Mecklenburg County murder

  State v. Pittman. (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-07-0914, 19 pp.) (Sam Ervin IV, J.) Appealed from Pitt County Superior Court. (W. Russell Duke Jr., J.) N.C. App. Holding: Even though defendant and the victim had exchanged heated words for years ...

Tagged with: Criminal Practice Jury Instructions murder Pitt County self-defense

By PAUL THARP, Staff Writer paul.tharp@nc.lawyersweekly.com   The State Bureau of Investigation’s laboratory in Raleigh isn’t the only crime lab in North Carolina being assailed by criminal defense attorneys. During opening statements in Charlotte last week in the double-murder trial of ...

Tagged with: Criminal Defense murder SBI

A homicide investigator's handwritten notes have become the focus of what some attorneys are calling the biggest murder trial in Charlotte in a decade. The case, State v. Montgomery, involves the killing of two Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officers in 2007. Attorney Bill Powers of Charlotte-based Powers McCartan said if police officers and prosecutors don't turn over their entire file, except for work product, they may be subject to sanctions. Powers is not involved in Montgomery.

Tagged with: Criminal Defense Criminal Practice discovery discovery sanctions discovery violations murder

State v. Smith. (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-07-0812, 20 pp.) (Linda Stephens, J.) Appealed from Wake County Superior Court. (A. Leon Stanback, J.) N.C. App. Holding: Defendant voluntarily spoke to law enforcement officers and offered varying explanations for how the 2-year-old ...

Tagged with: Constitutional Criminal Practice murder Wake County

U.S. v. Lighty. (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-01-0816, 83 pp.) (Hamilton, J.) No. 06-6, Aug. 11, 2010; USDC at Greenbelt, Md. (Messitte, J.) 4th Cir. Holding: Although the actions of federal prosecutors – including closing argument statements about the desires of ...

Tagged with: Criminal Practice Death Penalty Kidnapping murder

State v. Pasteur. (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-07-0688, 18 pp.) (John C. Martin, Ch.J.) Appealed from Franklin County Superior Court. (Henry W. Hight Jr., J.) N.C. App. Holding: Even though the state proved defendant had a motive for killing his estranged ...

Tagged with: circumstantial evidence Criminal Practice dna motive murder

State v. Blymer. (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-07-0612, 10 pp.) (Wanda G. Bryant, J.) Appealed from Rowan County Superior Court. (John L Holshouser Jr., J.) N.C. App. Holding: Where the jury verdict did not specify whether the jury found defendant guilty ...

Tagged with: evidence jury verdict murder robbery