Charlotte Criminal Lawyer Blog
Attorney J. Bradley Smith answering the question: “Should I talk to the police?”
Good news for those living in Sylva, North Carolina came early this week when it was announced that residents no longer need to fear discriminatory practices used by the local sheriff’s office. According to a recent statement from the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, the county will implement changes in the way the department conducts vehicle checkpoints.
The changes come a year after the ACLU launched an investigation into the actions of the department following complaints that the supposed seat belt checkpoints were actually being used to target Latinos. The ACLU said that they received information that at one checkpoint alone, 15 undocumented immigrants were detained and ultimately taken into custody. Thankfully charges against 10 of those arrested were eventually dropped.
According to the civil rights organization, there were complaints by many that the traffic checkpoints were being used as an excuse to check the immigration status of drivers. The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office routinely conducted these checkpoints with the assistance of officers in the federal Immigrations and Customs Enforcement office. The sheriff’s office initially denied the accusations, saying that they existed only to check for seat belt usage. The ACLU pointed out that federal immigration authorities are not needed to conduct a simple seat belt check.
Additionally, the ACLU noted that courts have been clear that there are only limited valid justifications for conducting a traffic checkpoint. For one thing, checkpoints have been found to be illegal when they are conducted for the purpose of general crime control. This is because such a broad purpose violates the Fourth Amendment’s requirement that a police officer must have a specific suspicion of wrongdoing before stopping a vehicle.
The mayor of Durham has responded to the results, saying that he is instituting an investigation into what appears to be clear evidence of racial profiling by police officers. The action was all prompted by the release of a University of North Carolina study that showed how blacks and Hispanics across the state were vastly more likely to be searched following a traffic stop than their white counterparts, something that has alarmed criminal defense attorneys as well as civil rights advocates.
According to the 
Police say Edwards faces charges of second-degree forcible sex, sexual acts with a student, taking indecent liberties with a minor and crimes against nature. The charges relate to incidents that occurred between 2009 and 2011 when Edwards is accused of molesting at least three boys between the ages of 11 and 14. One of the cases involved a middle schooler who was allegedly attacked while his parent sat just outside the door in the waiting area.
Woodall says that he hopes the trail he is blazing serves as a lesson to other prosecutors and says he hopes other states will follow his attempt at curbing improper agent conduct. Woodall says the activity can be quite harmful to athletes and athletic institutions in the long run and that too many law enforcement officials allow it go on with only a wink and a nod. Woodall says the law is the law and he intends to vigorously uphold it.
According to the aviation director at Charlotte Douglas, any vehicle that is dropped off at the airport’s curbside is subject to being searched. The airport admitted this is something it has been doing for the past year-and-a-half. The airport says that this is part of the facility’s security plan and has been approved of by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). Airport officials admit that no signs are currently posted alerting passengers to the possibility that their cars may be searched, but say that are now planning on installing such signs.
After receiving repeated complaints, police say they launched an investigation into the matter and shortly thereafter spotted a man, Robert Morgan, picking up the woman in the parking lot of the church. Authorities say that 22-year-old Jessica Blackmon got into Morgan’s car and then drove to a convenience store and finally to a private residence in the area.
The arrest took place this past weekend when 29-year-old Danny Hemby was arrested by officers with the NCWRC. Officials say that they have filed eight criminal charges against Hemby, including two counts of selling a reptile on the federal endangered species list; two counts of owning and using venomous reptiles; possession of a reptile of special concern; sale of a reptile of special concern; unlawful possession of a reptile without a permit and finally, commercial taking certain reptiles.
According to authorities, Delcid-Almedare was arrested after fellow shoppers at a North Carolina flea market said they saw her lock her dog in the trunk of her car. One eyewitness said that he saw Delcid-Almedare walking her dog at the Barnyard Flea Market along Highway 51 near the state line when he then watched as the woman closed the dog in her vehicle’s trunk.