NC Criminal Law
This post summarizes published criminal opinions from the Supreme Court of North Carolina released on August 14, 2026. The court released twelve such opinions on that day, some quite lengthy. Therefore, this post summarizes the first six opinions. The remaining opinions will be summarized in a forthcoming post.
(1) In a child sexual abuse trial, any improper vouching by expert witnesses did not rise to the level of plain...
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.
A criminal charge contained in a pleading must be sufficiently definite to identify the offense, enable the defendant to prepare his or her defense, bar a subsequent prosecution for the same offense, and enable the court to impose judgment.
The state is not barred from recharging an offense if it was dismissed because the state’s motion to continue was denied.
If the defendant appeals from a conviction arising out of a plea agreement in district court, the superior court has jurisdiction over misdemeanors that were dismissed, reduced, or modified pursuant to the agreement. See G.S. 15A-1431(b); 7A-271(b).
The superior court has general jurisdiction over all felonies, as well as any misdemeanors which are lesser-included offenses of the felony, joined with the felony, or initiated by grand jury presentment. G.S. 7A-271(a).