Constitutional protection against double jeopardy is understood to extend no further than the Fifth Amendment requires. Two recent cases from the Court of Appeals, however, seem to find greater double jeopardy protection under state law. In State v. Broadway, No. COA25-1159 (N.C. Ct. App. July 1, 2026), the court ruled a defendant could not be sentenced for two different assaults...
NC Criminal Law
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The state is not barred from recharging an offense if it was dismissed because the state’s motion to continue was denied.
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”.
The key question for double jeopardy analysis is whether each offense requires proof of an element that is not contained in the other — if not, they are the same offense and double jeopardy bars a successive prosecution.
Venue is proper in the entire district of the alleged offense, not just the particular county where the offense allegedly occurred. See G.S. 15A-131(b). Probable cause hearings are an exception and must be held in the county where the offense occurred. See G.S. 15a-131(c).
If the elements of the offense were committed in more than one county, each county in which an element of the crime was committed has concurrent venue. See G.S. 15A-132(a).
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