The television series Friends was a staple of my young adult life. So in 2022 when Matthew Perry published his memoir, Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing, I was eager to hear his story. In that work, Perry laid bare his decades-long struggle with addiction, though he ended the book on a hopeful note, reporting his then-current sobriety and his desire to someday marry and have children. A year later, Perry was found dead in a hot tub in his home. The...
NC Criminal Law
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When a statute sets forth disjunctive or alternative ways by which an offense may be committed, a warrant or indictment should charge them conjunctively, linking the alternatives by the word “and” instead of “or”.
A defendant may plead guilty or not guilty, or, with the consent of the prosecutor and judge, may plead “no contest.” See G.S. 15A-1011(a), (b).
A statement of charges, criminal summons, arrest warrant, citation or magistrate’s order may be amended at any time before or after final judgment as long as the amendment does not change the nature of the offense charged. G.S. 15A-922(f).
With the consent of all parties, the district court may accept guilty pleas to Class H and I felonies. G.S. 7A-272(c).
Evidence of the victim’s character may be introduced in two circumstances: First, the defendant may introduce evidence of a “pertinent trait” of the victim’s character. G.S. 8C-404(a)(2). The most common example is evidence of the victim’s violent character, offered when the defendant is claiming self-defense. Second, in homicide cases, the state may offer evidence of the victim’s character trait for “peacefulness” to rebut a claim by the defense that the victim was the first aggressor.
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