NC Criminal Law
This post summarizes the published criminal opinions from the North Carolina Court of Appeals released on September 16, 2026.
Trial court did not err by finding a violation of conditions of probation based on Defendant’s admission to failure to pay; insufficient evidence supported the findings that Defendant committed new criminal offenses and failed to report as directed; trial court did not err by imposing a five-month...
Unlike “character,” which refers to a person’s general disposition or personality trait, a “habit” is a person’s regular response to a repeated, specific situation. Evidence of a person’s habit may be introduced to show that the person’s conduct was in conformity with that habit on a particular occasion. G.S. 8C-406.
A judge must accept a plea arrangement that involves only charges and no sentence recommendation, as long as the judge determines the plea is the product of an informed choice of the defendant and there is a factual basis for the plea. See G.S. 15A-1023(c).
A prosecutor’s failure to sign an indictment does not invalidate the indictment. G.S. 15A-644(a)(4).
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 judge may accept an Alford plea, in which a defendant pleads guilty but does not admit committing the offense and protests his or her innocence, if the record strongly supports the defendant’s guilt and the defendant intelligently concludes that it is in his or her interest to enter such a plea. The consent of the prosecutor is not required.