Criminal Practice – Stalking & Obstruction of Justice – Jailhouse Letters
Even though the form orders entered in defendant’s cases were titled “Conditions of Release and Release Order,” the orders contain much more than just conditions of release. The orders – which set pretrial release conditions that defendant never met, meaning he stayed in jail – prohibited defendant from making contact with his victim, and they […]
Civil Rights — Qualified Immunity Reversed for Police Officers
Graham v. Gagnon (Lawyers Weekly No. 001-132-16, 29 pp.) (Floyd, J.) No. 15-1521, July 27, 2016; USDC at Alexandria, Va. (Ellis, J.) 4th Cir. Holding: The 4th Circuit reverses summary judgment for defendant police officers in a woman’s suit alleging the officers violated her Fourth Amendment rights by arresting her without probable cause for obstruction […]
Lawyer and former Perdue fundraiser pleads guilty
A former aide to North Carolina Gov. Beverly Perdue pleaded guilty Friday to a misdemeanor obstruction of justice charge related to secret salary payments received while working on the Democrat's campaign.
Civil Rights – Constitutional – Due Process – Exculpatory Evidence – Withheld by Police – Civil Practice – Statutes of Limitations & Repose – Qualified Immunity –Tort/Negligence – Obstruction of Justice
Chapman v. Rhoney Even though North Carolina has a 10-year statute of repose for personal injury claims, the statute of repose does not apply to Reconstruction-Era civil rights claims.
Tort/Negligence – Unfair Trade Practices – Malicious Prosecution – Obstruction of Justice – Champerty & Maintenance – Punitive Damages
Security Credit Corp. v. Mid/East Acceptance Corp. of N.C. Plaintiffs allege that, in support of a lawsuit brought against plaintiffs by a competitor, defendants lent money and provided free services to the competitor. Plaintiffs have failed to show how defendants’ alleged conduct falls within defendants’ regular business activities. Plaintiffs failed to allege that defendants’ acti[...]
Tort/Negligence – Unfair Trade Practices – Not in Commerce – Punitive Damages – Obstruction of Justice – Champerty & Maintenance
Security Credit Corp. v. Mid/East Acceptance Corp. of N.C. Plaintiffs’ unfair trade practices and punitive damages claims are based on defendants’ alleged champerty and maintenance. Since the champerty and maintenance were not part of defendants’ regular business, they were not “in commerce” within the meaning of G.S. § 75-1.1.
Criminal Practice – Obstruction of Justice – Felony Charge – Misdemeanor Conviction – Statute of Limitations – Statutory vs. Common Law Offense
State v. Taylor Even though the two-year statute of limitations on misdemeanors had already run when defendant was indicted for felony obstruction of justice, defendant's conviction of the lesser-included offense of misdemeanor obstruction of justice was not barred by the statute of limitations.
Criminal Practice – Obstruction of Justice – Deputy Sheriff – Drug Investigation – Former Colleague – Warning
State v. Pollard. Even though the suspect's boyfriend told her she had bought cocaine for a police informant, since the defendant-deputy sheriff had already told the suspect that she was the target of a drug investigation, and since the suspect stopped dealing with the informant immediately after the deputy talked to the suspect, the boyfriend's warning did not negate the deputy's obstruc[...]
Civil Rights – Civil Conspiracy – Civil Obstruction of Justice – Rule 12(b)(7)
Earp v. Quinlan. (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-16-0770, 16 pp.) (Sanford L. Steelman Jr., J.) Appealed from Durham County Superior Court (Allen Baddour, J.). N.C. App. Unpub. Holding: The trial court erred when it dismissed the plaintiff’s claims of civil conspiracy to interfere with her right to work and her civil-obstruction-of-justice claim against one defendant. We […]
Criminal Practice – Obstruction of Justice – Common Law – Campaign Finance Fraud – First Impression
State v. Wright. (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-07-0758, 15 pp.) (Martha A. Geer, J.) Appealed from Wake County Superior Court. (Donald W. Stephens, J.) N.C. App. Holding: Years of filing false campaign finance disclosure reports with the N.C. State Board of Elections fits within the broad definition of common law obstruction of justice. No error in […]
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