When you read about someone breaking into an unlocked door in rural North Carolina you may hear sighs about the death of the good old days. But leave the front
Continue Reading Southern Hospitality: Difference Between Leaving an Error Preservation Door Unlocked And Inviting Someone to “Come on In”
So much of the law is geared towards addressing what happens when two black-letter principles apply simultaneously but point to different outcomes.
The Court of Appeals had to resolve just
Continue Reading Clash of the Titans: When Waiver and Subject-Matter Jurisdiction CollideUnder Appellate Rule 10, the general rule is that appellate courts only decide issues properly raised, argued, and decided in the trial tribunal. But exceptions to this general rule exist
Continue Reading Supreme Court Upholds Constitutionality of Another Error Preservation Statute
Requesting that trial judges modify their judgments or orders is not for the faint of heart. Informing a trial judge that he or she has likely goofed is not fun,
Continue Reading Resisting the Urge to Give the Trial Court One Last Chance—Déjà Vu
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
Continue Reading Appellate Rulings Not Argued By Any Party; or Too Many Fingers in the Pie
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
Continue Reading There’s Golder In Them Thar Hills
On Friday, the Supreme Court displayed how busy it has been this summer by releasing 17 authored opinions. Justice Per Curiam (who is fond of affirming/reversing “for the reasons
Continue Reading Taking Care of Business (Part I): Rule 3.1 No-Merit Briefs Warrant (At Least Some Form of) Appellate Review
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
Continue Reading Right for the Wrong Reasons, Redux
Finally found time to blog on one of my favorite topics: exceptions and qualifications to the error preservation requirements of Appellate Rule 10! (Um, I heard those groans!). A few
Continue Reading To Err Is Human, But to Review Is Divine—Exceptions to Preserving Error
In October 2018, I gave a CLE presentations with (now recently sworn in) Judge Allegra Collins: “Life Preservers on the Titanic: Issues Not Properly Preserved for Appellate Review.” Part
Continue Reading Supreme Court Reaffirms That Non-Constitutional Sentencing Arguments Are Automatically Preserved for Appellate Review