Charlotte Criminal Lawyer Brad Smith answers the question: “Should I ever plead guilty to a charge?”
A fundamental part of the United States court systems is the right for the accused to have a trial by a jury of their peers. However, included in this right is the inherent idea that those serving on a jury need to be provided with the proper instructions and legal theories in order to make a well informed decision about whether a defendant is guilty or not. In order to reach this decision, proper instructions need to be given. What happens if incorrect instructions are given? The North Carolina Court of Appeals recently ruled on this issue.
Charlotte DWI Lawyer Brad Smith answers the question: “Can the police search my car without a warrant?”
In most instances, police officers are required to have reasonable suspicion when they conduct a traffic stop. Speeding, swerving in and out of lanes, using a phone while driving, or other traffic violations give an officer reasonable suspicion to pull a car over and investigate what is happening. When an officer conducts a traffic stop, he or she usually asks for your license, registration, and insurance, and then runs your information through their system to check you out. However, what happens if the reason the officer conducted the stop, providing reasonable suspicion, disappears? Can officers still conduct the traffic stop and ask for your license? The North Carolina Court of Appeals recently ruled on this issue and found that yes, an officer can continue the traffic stop even if the cause for the stop disappears.
Charlotte Criminal Lawyer Brad Smith answers the question: “What are the long term effects of being convicted of a crime?”
Criminal charges and the subsequent trial that follow can raise legal questions for North Carolina courts. There are always new issues that arise and new considerations to be taken into account. Recently, the North Carolina Court of Appeals has further expanded upon drug identification in criminal cases. The appeals court has ruled on drug identification at different points throughout the year, but this new ruling adds in an extra wrinkle to identifying drugs.
Charlotte Criminal Lawyer Brad Smith answers the question: “What are the long term effects of being convicted of a crime?”
In 2011, the North Carolina General Assembly updated the law governing the use of defensive force in the home. Since then, there has been a need for clarification of the newly enacted statute and cases in which the court interprets the statute and indicates how it should be applied in future situations. In State v. Kuhns, the North Carolina Court the Appeals clarifies part of the new statute, G.S. 14-51.2.
J. Bradley Smith of Arnold & Smith, PLLC answers the question “Should I ever plead guilty to a charge?”
An exciting new ruling came out of the federal Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals this February. This is the federal court that has jurisdiction over North Carolina, and it held that a state court was objectively unreasonable in not finding that a defendant’s trial attorney provided Ineffective Assistance of Counsel when the attorney failed to move to suppress the defendant’s confession.
J. Bradley Smith of Arnold & Smith, PLLC answers the question “Can I be arrested without evidence against me?”
In 2008, the North Carolina General Assembly passed a law making it a criminal offense for anyone previously convicted of a sexual offense to access a commercial social networking site that permits children to become members or to maintain personal web pages on the site.
Charlotte DWI and Criminal Defense Attorney J. Bradley Smith of Arnold & Smith, PLLC answers the question “Can the police search my car without a warrant?”
The Minnesota Court of Appeals recently issued a long-awaited opinion concerning the constitutionality of the state’s implied consent law. The Appeals Court affirmed the law, holding that a warrantless breath test qualifies as a valid search so long as it is connected to a lawful arrest.
J. Bradley Smith of Arnold & Smith, PLLC answers the question “Should I ever plead guilty to a charge?”
The axiom that “The truth shall set you free” is, in my opinion, a bit overused and often used out of context. The quote—from the eighth chapter of the Gospel according to John, in the New Testament of the Bible—is quite specific in its meaning.
Charlotte DWI Lawyer Brad Smith answers the question: What are the long term effects of being convicted of a crime?
North Carolina’s death row houses 152 inmates awaiting execution. The state has not executed an inmate since 2006. A series of lawsuits brought by death-row inmates in 2007 led to what some call a “de facto moratorium.” Those lawsuits are still pending.
Now a group called “North Carolina Conservatives Concerned about the Death Penalty” is pushing state lawmakers to consider whether replacing the death penalty with life-in-prison-without-the-possibility-of-parole would be prudent in light of recent death-penalty developments in the Tar Hell state and elsewhere. Raleigh-based political consultant Ballard Everett is the group’s “coordinator.” According the Associated Press, the group’s membership includes current or former Republican Party chairmen from at least three North Carolina counties.
The state legislature passed a law last year aimed at resuming capital punishment. Last October, the Department of Public Safety issued a new set of protocols for carrying out death sentences. The “Execution Procedure Manual” provides for the administration of a single drug—Pentobarbital—to execute inmates.
Pentobarbital isn’t the easiest drug to find in the world, at least for states seeking to use it in lethal injections. The drug’s European manufacturers—located in countries that oppose the death penalty—refuse to sell the drug to states and departments that may use it to carry out death sentences.
Charlotte Criminal Lawyer Blog
