NC Criminal Law

Jeff Welty on Friday, October 17th, 2025

NBC has this article up about the top national criminal law story of the moment. It notes that “[a] federal grand jury indicted former national security adviser John Bolton on Thursday, making him the third critic of President Donald Trump to face criminal charges in recent weeks.” The article goes on to state that “Bolton ... Read more

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Even if he does not testify, the defendant may offer evidence of a “pertinent trait” of his character. G.S. 8C-404(a)(1).

If the defendant (or any defendant in a multi-defendant case) puts on evidence, then state has the right to the first and last closing argument.

If a search warrant validly describes the premises to be searched, a car located on the premises may be searched even though the warrant contains no description of the car. State v. Courtright, 60 N.C. App. 247, 249 (1983).

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

If evidence is excluded by the trial court, the proponent of the evidence generally must provide an adequate offer of proof regarding the nature of the excluded evidence in order to argue on appeal that the evidence should have been allowed. See G.S. 8C-103(a)(2).