NC Criminal Law
When can law enforcement officers enter a person’s home, without a warrant, in order to provide emergency assistance? How sure must the officers be that assistance is needed before an emergency entry is allowed? These are the questions at the heart of Case v. Montana, 607 U.S. __ (2026), an opinion issued by the Supreme Court last month.
Fourth Amendment basics. The Fourth Amendment...
A defendant has a Sixth Amendment right to counsel during interrogation by an officer or an informant about a pending charge after adversarial judicial proceedings for that charge have begun.
The court is not bound by the rules of evidence (except for rules on privilege) when deciding whether challenged evidence is admissible.
An indigent defendant who has been formally charged has a right to counsel at a pretrial lineup or other identification procedure at which defendant’s presence is required.
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).
An acquittal under the Double Jeopardy Clause includes a dismissal of a charge for insufficient evidence or an appellate court’s reversal of a conviction for insufficient evidence.