NC Criminal Law

Jeff Welty on Friday, June 26th, 2026

I was late in putting together this roundup, which enabled me to include news that just broke today: Former National Security Adviser John Bolton pled guilty this morning to illegally retaining classified information, according to this AP story. Sentencing is scheduled for October 28. The plea agreement reportedly “recommends capping any...

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Each separate offense charged against a defendant must be pled in a separate pleading, or in a separate count within a single pleading. See G.S. 15A-924(a)(2).

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 judge may not constitutionally impose a suspended sentence for a misdemeanor conviction unless the defendant was represented by counsel or properly waived counsel.

The state is not barred from recharging an offense if it was dismissed because the state’s motion to continue was denied. 

The Double Jeopardy Clause does not prohibit multiple punishments for offenses when one is include within the other under the Blockburger test if both are tried at the same time and if the legislature specifically authorizes cumulative punishment for both offenses.