North Carolina has a very traditional conception of first degree murder. First degree murder was historically murder that required malice aforethought and premeditation, that was evidenced by poisoning, lying in wait etc.
In addition, First Degree Murder can be proved if someone, in the course of committing another violent felony – such as robbery or [...]
The police officer can ask you to give blood instead of or along with blowing into a breathalyzer. Again, you are not required to give blood, but because North Carolina is an “implied consent” state, your license will be revoked for 1 year if you refuse. (See above for my discussion of breathalyzer refusals.)
A [...]
It’s true. The breathalyzer is hunk of junk. I could use worse language. But I won’t. First, the science behind it is pretty weak. It doesn’t measure your actual Blood Alcohol Concentration. Instead, it tries to guess your BAC by measuring the amount of alcohol by-products in your breath.
The [...]
If you blew a .08, and if your lawyer cannot challenge the admission of that into evidence (using the techniques described above regarding Phase I, Phase II, and Phase III), and if your lawyer can’t show that the number you blew was within the margin of error of the breathalyzer machine, then you stand a [...]
Sexual Battery is one of the harshest misdemeanors on the books in North Carolina. It involves sexual contact done for the purpose of sexual arousal or sexual gratification. The reason why it’s so harsh is because the defendant, if convicted, will need to register as a sex offender.
Here’s the statute:
§ 14-27.5A. Sexual battery.
(a) [...]
It is a Class E felony if you, with malice aforethought, throw or cause to be thrown upon another person any acids or alkalis.
Here’s the statute:
§ 14-30.1. Malicious throwing of corrosive acid or alkali.
If any person shall, of malice aforethought, knowingly and willfully throw or cause to be thrown upon another person any corrosive acid [...]
Your attorney will probably recommend that you take a Substance Abuse Assessment.
In order to get a Substance Abuse Assessment, you will need to set up an appointment with a qualified agency – usually a private treatment center. You will a private, one-on-one session with a counselor for about 40 minutes. The counselor will [...]
Greg Taylor was convicted in 1993 of killing Jacquetta Thomas in 1991. Now, 17 years after his conviction, his case has gone before a three panel court in Raleigh, convened after the North Carolina Innocence Commission found evidence suggesting that Taylor is innocent of the crime.
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If you watch police shows on television, often police will forget to read the defendant his rights. Then the lawyers in the show will argue that his “Miranda rights” were violated and he should be let go.
In the real world, defendants rarely benefit from the protections in Miranda. That’s because police usually do read [...]
If the officer did not find enough evidence to arrest you, the officer can let you go, maybe with a warning.
But if the officer does think he has enough evidence that you’ve committed a DWI, the officer can arrest you. At this point, you will be handcuffed and placed into the officer’s car.
The officer [...]