NCPRO Newsletter for June 2nd, 2020

This is the fourth installment of our occasional newsletter about NC PRO. We have exciting news to share about a helpful new feature.

NEW! Arrest Warrant and Indictment Forms

Almost every prosecutor has experienced the frustration of seeing a strong case dismissed at trial or having a hard-fought conviction reversed on appeal due to a simple mistake in the charging language. Missing elements, incorrect phrasing, or a misidentified victim can all be fatal defects that sink a pleading. To help address this problem, the School of Government has for many years published Arrest Warrant and Indictment Forms (“AWIF”), a manual coauthored by Jeff Welty and Chris Tyner. The manual, along with a series of annual or bi-annual updates, provides sample charging language and helpful tips for the most commonly charged misdemeanor and felony offenses in North Carolina.

AWIF is an excellent resource, but we recognized that it had a few shortcomings. First, non-cumulative updates made it difficult for prosecutors to find and use the most recent charging language for any given offense. Second, because there was no easy way to “copy and paste” the sample language from a paper manual, some offices relied on templates created and saved in-house, rather than drafting new charges from scratch. This saved time, but sometimes resulted in erroneous charging language due to typographical errors or changes in the law. Additionally, if a prosecutor spotted a potential charging error while in court, he or she likely would not have the original AWIF manual (plus all the updates) close at hand in order to make a proper amendment or supersede with a corrected charge.

We have a solution for those problems. Actually, we have two.

1. AWIF 2019 Edition
   
   

   The newest edition of Arrest Warrant and Indictment Forms is now available. The forms have been updated to reflect significant appellate cases and legislative changes through December 2019. We plan to publish future editions of the manual every year or every other year to continue incorporating amendments and additions into a single, unified manual.

   A copy of the latest edition of AWIF will be provided to all prosecutors who attend Practical Skills for New Prosecutors, the five-day training course for new prosecutors offered each year by the UNC School of Government and the NC Conference of District Attorneys. Other Judicial Branch employees may procure copies of this publication through the Online Supply Store of the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC), and should contact the AOC’s Purchasing Services Division (purchasing@nccourts.org) with any questions. The AOC requests prior approval from division managers before ordering through the AOC's online store.

2. AWIF is now on NC PRO
   
   

   To make AWIF even easier to access and use, we have also added it as Section 900 on NC PRO. Logged in users can access the new page here. If you have previously used the NC PRO page for pattern jury instructions, the function and layout of the AWIF page will be familiar. This new page contains links that will take the user directly to a PDF containing the charging language for that offense, along with links to statutes and any AOC template forms.

   When preparing a new charge, the appropriate language can be copied from the PDF and pasted directly into a pleading. When responding to a motion alleging a fatal defect, or addressing an alleged error by making a motion to amend or drafting a superseding pleading, the correct language can now be accessed quickly and easily from a laptop or smartphone.

In Other News: Motions, Briefs, and Stats

When NC PRO launched in October 2018, we asked registered users to submit sample motions and briefs that their colleagues across the state might find helpful. Over 160 such documents have been uploaded to the site so far, addressing a wide range of topics including 404(b) evidence, court orders for records, and customized jury instructions. Logged in users will see these documents listed in the sidebar of any topically-relevant page. This is a great start, but we’re always looking for more. If you have a motion, brief, or other document to share, please send it in by clicking “Submit Brief/Motion” in the sidebar of the appropriate page, or email it to Jonathan Holbrook at jholbrook@sog.unc.edu.

Finally, a couple words about the usage of the site. There are currently 567 registered users from prosecutorial offices all across the state. The site as a whole has logged almost 23,000 visitors who have called up more than 87,000 page views. We don’t track individual users, but the site does log the associated city of each visitor. Not surprisingly, the largest cities in North Carolina have accounted for the highest number of visitors (e.g., Raleigh, Charlotte, Durham, and Greensboro), but we tip our hat to the city of Washington – which may be ranked #94 in terms of total population, but comes in at #15 on our frequent visitor list. Thanks for stopping by, and we hope you continue to find the site useful.

Sincerely,

NC PRO Team