Yesterday’s batch of opinions contained an unusual nugget: an entire opinion devoted to arguably the most powerful of all appellate tools, the writ of certiorari. In State v. Biddix,
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Criminal Appeals
Federal Prosecutors Will Forego Inserting “Appellate Waivers” into Plea Deals
Is it fair for the government to require a criminal defendant to waive his right to appeal as part of accepting a plea agreement? Such “appellate waivers” have become quite…
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No objection, No problem: Court of Appeals grants new trial on ground not raised by trial counsel
As a general rule, an appellate issue is only preserved if you first object before the trial court. N.C. R. App. P. 10(a)(1). The Court of Appeals reminded us…
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Trial Judge Denies Your For-Cause Challenge to a Potential Juror — Good Luck Challenging That
As the Honorable Mark A. Davis recently reminded us in his CLE program entitled Do’s and Don’ts at the Court of Appeals: A View from the Bench: “Appellate judges…
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“Last in Time” May Not Be the Rule for Conflicting Lines of Cases
What do civil practitioners need to know about today’s opinion on probation revocation appeals? Simply this: When faced with potentially conflicting opinions from the North Carolina Court of Appeals, earlier…
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Everything’s Not Lost – How to Potentially Fix an Oversight in Noticing an Appeal
Many of our posts since we launched this blog have focused on the importance of paying attention to and timely following the Rules of Appellate Procedure, lest you find yourself…
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Appellate Practice and Procedure Nuggets from the North Carolina Supreme Court
The North Carolina Supreme Court issued two opinions on Friday containing interesting nuggets of appellate practice and procedure.
The Supreme Court Can, and Sometimes Will, Exercise Its Broad Authority to …
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It’s Better to Avoid Trouble in The First Place: Tips for Avoiding Problems on Appeal
Rather than focusing on one opinion, today’s blog post extracts tips from several Court of Appeals’ opinions issued today. First stop: the record on appeal. There are certain documents which