This post summarizes published criminal law and related cases released by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals during June 2024. Cases of potential interest to state practitioners are summarized monthly. Previous summaries of Fourth Circuit cases are available here. 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1) is not facially unconstitutional U.S. v. Canada, 103 F.4th 257 (June 3, 2024). The defendant was convicted of possession of firearm by a felon following a jury trial in the District of South Carolina. He argued on appeal that 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1), the federal law prohibiting people convicted of a felony from posse ..read more

Session Law 2024-17 enacts changes to the law regarding the scope of original juvenile jurisdiction beginning with offenses committed on or after December 1, 2024. Law changes regarding the existing process to transfer a case from juvenile to superior court will also take effect at that time. Read on for a description of the changes. Narrowing of Original Juvenile Jurisdiction for Offenses at Ages 16 and 17 Under current law, original jurisdiction over all felonies alleged to have been committed at ages 16 and 17, other than motor vehicle offenses, is in juvenile court, though some felonies mu ..read more

Special thanks to Sheridan King, Summer Law Fellow at UNC SOG, for her significant contributions to the research and development of this post. The previous post of this multi-part series on confidential informants (“CI’s”) delved into possible approaches to handling video and audio recordings of confidential informant activity (Parts I and II can be found here and here). CI activity is often recorded during the “main event” (the incident for which the defendant is indicted) and during “lead-up buys” (controlled purchases that create probable cause to search a location). Though trial courts thr ..read more

The biggest news story of the week is a gunman’s attempt to assassinate former president and current presidential candidate Donald Trump during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on Saturday. The gunman, identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, fired eight rounds from a semiautomatic AR-style rifle in Trump’s direction. Trump was struck in the ear, rally attendee Corey Comperatore was killed, and two other men were critically wounded in the attack. The New York Times analyzed video, audio, and photographs of the event and created this narrative video timeline. The Times video end ..read more

At the Criminal Justice Innovation Lab, we’re focused on an evidence-based approach to criminal justice issues. We deal with a lot of data and try to make that information relevant and accessible to state and local leaders. Case in point, our new North Carolina Record Clearance Dashboard. On the Dashboard, you can choose various policy options, including: Offenses to include in the policy—for example, do you want to include administrative traffic misdemeanors? Other non-violent misdemeanors? Charges that did or didn’t result in a conviction Service date for included offenses Relevant policy e ..read more

The Supreme Court’s big Second Amendment case this term was United States v. Rahimi, 602 U.S. __ (2024), which I wrote about here. But readers interested in firearms law should know that the Court also decided Garland v. Cargill, 602 U.S. 406 (2024), a case addressing the legal status of bump stocks. The case isn’t a criminal case, and it mostly isn’t a Second Amendment case, but it is an interesting case with important implications for administrative law and perhaps for the future of gun regulations. Bump stocks. A bump stock is a device that can be affixed to the shoulder stock of a semi-aut ..read more

The U.S. Supreme Court recently decided Smith v. Arizona, 602 U.S. ___; 2024 WL 3074423 (June 21, 2024) (Kagan, J.). The case settled a lingering question in Sixth Amendment Confrontation Clause jurisprudence: Does the Confrontation Clause permit substitute analyst testimony? Courts have been split on the question, with North Carolina and Arizona among the jurisdictions that have generally allowed this type of expert testimony. Substitute analyst testimony arises when the person who performed forensic testing for use in a criminal trial is not available to testify, and the prosecution uses a s ..read more

Back in May, it appeared that North Carolina lawmakers were moving toward a repeal of automatic expunctions of dismissed charges. However, in recent weeks, they have reversed course and a law providing for such expunctions was signed by the Governor this week. The law requires cases to be automatically expunged between six and seven months after all charges are dismissed. Expunged files are to be retained by the clerk and will be available to the person whose case was expunged as well as the district attorney. The new law incorporates recommendations of a committee tasked with addressing logis ..read more

In a case decided earlier this month, the Court of Appeals overturned the defendant’s conviction for kidnapping when the evidence showed only an unsuccessful carjacking. See State v. Andrews, No. COA23-675 (N.C. Ct. App. July 2, 2024). Given the particular facts of the case – the defendant threatened the victim with a firearm, the victim fled in his car, and the defendant gave chase in his van – the Court of Appeals might have concluded that a car chase does not constitute the sort of confinement, restraint, or removal that G.S. 14-39 (kidnapping) was intended to address. Instead, it held that ..read more

On June 25, 2024, changes to the HIPAA Privacy Rule aimed at supporting reproductive health care privacy went into effect. Last week, I published a blog post about these changes, including the creation of three new types of prohibited uses and disclosures of protected health information (PHI). This post addresses another major change to the law: a new attestation requirement that applies to four types of uses and disclosures when the PHI at issue is “potentially related” to reproductive health care. It’s not just covered entities and business associates that need to understand this new require ..read more