Matt blogged last week on Doe v. City of Charlotte, in which we were given multiple lessons in both how to and how not to handle an appeal. Authoring
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The ups and downs (and up again?) of a Batson challenge
In Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79 (1986), the U.S. Supreme Court held that the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment prevents prosecutors in criminal cases from exercising
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Appellate Rulings Not Argued By Any Party; or Too Many Fingers in the Pie
Last year, I blogged about State v. Ellis where a passing motorist gave a Highway Patrol trooper the middle-finger salute and was arrested for his trouble. A divided Court of
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There’s Golder In Them Thar Hills
In State v. Golder, 79PA18, filed 3 April 2020, the Supreme Court of North Carolina provided helpful guidance on a vexing issue relating to error preservation: Does a general
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The Trooper and the Hat—A Fable for Our Time
Although the case involving North Carolina Highway Patrol Trooper Thomas Wetherington appears to invite smiles because it focuses on his uniform hat (see “Side Bar” below), in fact it addresses
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Is Campbell Still In The Soup?
State v. Campbell 
is a case that is proving as hard to finish off as Freddy Kreuger or Wile E. Coyote. Campbell has earned its third blog entry following yet
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Two For The Price Of One: Court Costs In Criminal Cases
In a recent opinion, State v. Rieger, No. COA18-960 (filed 1 October 2019), the Court of Appeals wrestled with what appears to be an issue of first impression: how
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Right for the Wrong Reasons, Redux
NOTICE: Take the following post with a grain of salt. The Court of Appeals issued an updated opinion in the Ellis case on 20 August 2019. Although the opinion is
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AJEI 2019 IS COMING! CLE GALORE!
Most readers of this blog are familiar with the Appellate Judges Education Institute, an annual seminar devoted to appellate practice. Don’t be distracted by the name. AJEI has programs for
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YO, DAWG!
We all remember the old common law rule that every dog gets one free bite, with the bite putting the owner on notice of the dog’s anti-social tendencies. In today’s
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