Under 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
Resisting the Urge to Give the Trial Court One Last Chance—Déjà Vu
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,
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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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Taking Care of Business (Part I): Rule 3.1 No-Merit Briefs Warrant (At Least Some Form of) Appellate Review
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
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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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To Err Is Human, But to Review Is Divine—Exceptions to Preserving Error
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
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Supreme Court Reaffirms That Non-Constitutional Sentencing Arguments Are Automatically Preserved for Appellate Review
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
Is “Failure To Preserve” An Issue That Must Be Preserved?
I will note at the outset that our firm represented the property owners in this case. But aside from the substantive issues, the Supreme Court’s decision from last week in
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Preserving Sentencing Errors Just Got More Confusing
In State v. Meadows, the Court of Appeals determined that sentencing errors not preserved with a timely request, objections, or motion are waived under Appellate Rule 10(a)(1). In doing
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