Charlotte Criminal Lawyer Blog
Attorney J. Bradley Smith answering the question: “Can the police search my car without a warrant?”
A recent article in the Huffington Post dealt with the issue of some state crime labs being impacted by the danger of cognitive bias. The author of the study notes that when crime lab analysts report to a state police agency or the attorney general, they can feel co-opted to be part of the state’s criminal justice team. The problem with this is that the crime lab should not be on anyone’s side, but instead neutrally review and analyze evidence.
A recent piece in the journal Criminal Justice Ethics deals with a related theme, how the current criminal justice system financially incentives wrongful convictions. Specifically, the article noted how crime labs in many states are actually funded through court fees, something that the authors say act as a channel for bias to enter the crime lab analysis.
In some states, the crime labs actually receive money for each criminal conviction. For instance, some crime labs depend solely on conviction money for their funding, with a crime lab in rural Louisiana receiving $10 for every guilty plea or verdict from each speeding ticket and $50 from DWI cases. Illinois crime labs earn money after convictions for sex offenses and drug crimes while Mississippi crime labs are paid after convictions for crimes including arson, DWI and aiding suicide.
Something that may surprise residents of North Carolina is that the state is named as being one of these locations where bias can be created due to the funding structure of the state’s crime lab. North Carolina law says that judges in the state are empowered to assess a $600 fee to those who have been convicted of various crimes to help pay for the services of a state or local crime lab. Such fees can be assessed whenever a lab performs DNA analysis of a crime, tests bodily fluids for the presence of alcohol or drugs or analyze any substance possessed by the defendant.
According to authorities, Bader was at her home late Monday night when her roommate and his brother were in the living room, drinking and watching a loop of classic rock songs by the Eagles on the television. Bader apparently grew weary of hearing “Hotel California” blasted over and over again and told the two men to turn off the music.
According to the Mothers of Murdered Offspring, the vigil was taking place to call attention to the recent death of a Charlotte man who police say was shot and killed when he attempted to rob a convenience store. About 50 people were gathered to honor the man killed in the shooting when, at around 10:30 p.m., gunshots erupted.
According to a spokesperson for the department, Officer Randall Kerrick, is now in custody after the victim, 24-year-old Jonathan Ferrell, was killed during an encounter with police after wrecking his car. The police department conducted an investigation after the deadly shooting and determined Kerrick’s actions were excessive, saying that Kerrick did not have the authority to discharge his weapon during the encounter.
To be a bit more precise, the DEA actually revealed that it seized 11.02 BTC (the abbreviation for Bitcoin), something that at the time amounted to $814.22. According to an online Bitcoin conversion website that same amount of Bitcoin today would be worth $1,524.29, a difference that reveals just how rapidly Bitcoin’s value can shift.
Magistrate Judge David Waxse took the unusual step of denying a governmental search warrant request according to a recent 
Thankfully, recent reforms have helped stem the rising tide, and between 2008 and 2010 the total number of people with criminal records actually fell by one percent. How does that happen? Thanks to efforts by lawmakers to create new ways for people to erase and expunge their old criminal records. Recent efforts which allow adults to expunge first-time nonviolent misdemeanor crimes or low-level felony convictions have helped allow some people to clear their records and pave the way for a better future.
Prior to passage of the law, students were only allowed to have an attorney informally advise them. Lawyers were generally barred from presenting evidence during the hearings, cross-examining witnesses or in any way representing the student during the disciplinary actions.
According to authorities, three men hiked off into the woods in rural Caldwell County over the weekend. Late Monday night the local sheriff’s office received a 911 call from Sonny Hyatt, who told dispatchers he and his two friends, Thomas Imler and Eric Schmidt, were lost in the woods. Authorities tracked down Hyatt using the GPS coordinates in his cellphone and rescued the three men.
The panel of three judges decided Tuesday that North Carolina’s 2008 law on the subject, the “Protect Children From Sexual Predators Act” is too vague. The panel noted that the law broadly denies sex offenders the right to participate in a wide range of online activities without any attempt to explain how the blanket ban protects others.