A recent opinion out of the North Carolina Court of Appeals is causing comment in the criminal bar. In In The Matter Of J.B.P, (No. COA23-269), a juvenile petition was filed against the juvenile, alleging possession of...more
I have blogged annually about the Appellate Judges Education Institute’s Summit. This year it is being held in Boston from November 14 through 17. As in prior years, it’s going to be a dilly. The program will be pure...more
On May 7, 2024 the North Carolina Court of Appeals issued thirty-three published opinions There’s a lot to chew on here. Here’s my summary of a few of the more interesting or unusual cases.
Warren v. Cielo...more
5/13/2024
/ Animal Cruelty ,
Appellate Courts ,
Appraisers ,
Assault ,
Consent ,
Criminal Conspiracy ,
Dissenting Opinions ,
North Carolina ,
State Bar Associations ,
Time-Barred Claims ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices ,
Valuation
It is with sadness that I report on the recent death of retired Chief Judge John Martin. He had been fighting cancer for several years and went down swinging. His funeral, held in Raleigh on April 25, 2024, was packed....more
The North Carolina Court of Appeals has a new chief judge. Effective January 1, 2024, Chief Justice Newby has appointed Senior Associate Judge Chris Dillon as the new chief of the North Carolina Court of Appeals....more
I’ve spent a fair amount of time over the last few months working on the examination recently administered to those seeking to become North Carolina State Bar Board Certified Specialists in Appellate Practice. During my...more
In State v. Richardson, 272A14, filed 1 September 2023, the Supreme Court of North Carolina reviewed the conviction and sentencing of the defendant. The evidence indicated the gruesome and protracted abuse of a child that...more
9/8/2023
/ Appeals ,
Bias ,
Child Abuse ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Denial of Certiorari ,
Dissenting Opinions ,
Evidence ,
First Degree Murder ,
Jury Trial ,
Mitigating Factors ,
NC Supreme Court ,
North Carolina ,
Recusal
I’m afraid it’s time to add another to my recent string of blog posts honoring remarkable judges and justices who have left the bench. United States Circuit Judge for the District of Columbia Circuit David Sentelle has...more
Over the last few years, Confederate monuments in many North Carolina towns and cities have been objects of controversy. As one who parked for eighteen years in the shadow of the towering and now-departed Confederate...more
Registration for AJEI’s 2023 Summit is now open. It will be held November 2-5 at the JW Marriott in the District of Columbia....more
With little notice or fanfare, the latest North Carolina Senate budget bill stands poised to make a significant change in North Carolina appellate practice. Currently there are several routes to the Supreme Court of North...more
North Carolina recently lost another of its retired appellate judges. K. Edward Greene served on the Court of Appeals for sixteen years following eight years as a district court judge. After his retirement from the bench,...more
Much ink has been spilled exploring the porous jurisdictional border between the trial division and the appellate division. A recent opinion from the Court of Appeals addresses this issue again.
State v. Johnson, No....more
The news these days is filled with stories about Artificial Intelligence and how it will change our lives. We’ve seen impressive examples of AI-generated stories, poems and essays composed in the voice of famous writers. ...more
Jurisdiction is a foundation of what we do as trial and appellate practitioners. While a litigant can waive lack of personal jurisdiction, lack of subject matter jurisdiction is death for a case. In its opinions issued...more
If there’s one thing readers of this blog can count on, it is that every even-numbered year ends with a gush of opinions from both appellate courts as the judges and justices strive to finish the year’s work before new...more
12/29/2022
/ Appellate Courts ,
Evidence ,
Failure To Maintain ,
Foreclosure ,
Governmental Immunity ,
Guardians ,
Hearsay ,
Inadmissible Evidence ,
Informants ,
Judges ,
Marital Assets ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Rules of Appellate Procedure ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Third-Party
It’s not unusual to see changes on the bench with the arrival of a new year. Come January 1, 2023, Justice Dietz and Justice Allen will join the Supreme Court of North Carolina. All readers of this blog will wish each a...more
The legal aftershocks of the COVID-19 pandemic will be surfacing for years to come. But for those waiting for pendent-appellate jurisdiction and Rule 54(b) sightings, a recent Court of Appeal opinion combines appellate...more
10/14/2022
/ Appellate Courts ,
Appellate Jurisdiction ,
Colleges ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Fees ,
Government Lockdown ,
Rules of Civil Procedure ,
School Closures ,
Sovereign Immunity ,
Students ,
Universities
A statute of limitations can end a case before it begins. But which limitations period applies? In its recent opinion in Woody v. Accuquest Hearing Center, LLC, COA21-563 (2022), the North Carolina Court of Appeals tackled...more
For years, tension has existed between federal and state criminal prosecutors over forfeitures. Criminal forfeitures result from the seizure (and, if necessary, the sale) of contraband such as cash from illegal activities or...more
On May 3, 2022, the North Carolina Court of Appeals issued a large batch of opinions. By my count, twenty-two were published and thirty were unpublished. While history may prove me wrong, none of the published opinions...more
5/12/2022
/ Appeals ,
Appellate Courts ,
Counterclaims ,
Ineffective Assistance of Counsel ,
Investigations ,
Life Estates ,
Manslaughter ,
Motion for Reconsideration ,
NC Supreme Court ,
North Carolina ,
Pro Se Litigants ,
Rules of Civil Procedure ,
Statement of Grounds ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Will Caveats ,
Wills
The holding in Batson v. Kentucky, 479 U.S. 79 (1986), that racial discrimination has no place in jury selection, continues to generate caselaw. As noted in a prior blog post, the Supreme Court of North Carolina had never...more
In State v. Jonas, [2021-NCCOA-660; No. COA20-712 filed 7 December 2021, the Court of Appeals discussed an appellate requirement that sometimes bedevils criminal defense attorneys: preserving the right to appeal the trial...more
The Supreme Court has sent the creatures discussed in Beth’s December 7, 2021 blog back into obscurity. In an Order dated December 8, 2021, that Court granted a temporary injunction and stayed the candidate-filing period for...more
The Appellate Judges Education Institute Summit is scheduled for November 11-14, 2021 in Austin. In light of the ongoing worries about COVID, questions arise as to whether an in-person conference is still planned, what steps...more