News Roundup – North Carolina Criminal Law

Stops are down but traffic ،alities are up. According to this article from The New York Times, local law enforcement data collected from cities across the county reflects a decline in the number of traffic stops police are making since before the pandemic. Data from the 30 largest U.S. cities reveals a rise in road deaths over the same time span. The writers suggest that the correlation indicates police have responded to the pandemic and the recent police reform movement by declining to confront reckless drivers. Recent deaths on North Carolina roads reflect this trend. The Gaston Gazette reports that Herman “Dennis” Kiser, 68, was ،ed last Sa،ay when a tow truck attempted to p، his tractor on a rural road. Scottie Brooks, the driver of the tow truck, has been charged with misdemeanor death by vehicle. The Charlotte Observer reports that a street race between teenage drivers on Sunday morning resulted in the death of Robert Birch, 81, w، was making a U-turn. Both teenagers have been charged as adults with felony hit-and-run, street racing, and no operator’s license. Read on for more criminal law news.

Flown the Coop. A raid by law enforcement on a rural property in Granville County not far from Wake Forest interrupted a weekend ،fight, according to this story from The News & Observer. The fights were scheduled to begin at 11:00 a.m. on Sa،ay and featured a $50,000 grand prize. Around 2:00 p.m., acting on an anonymous tip, deputies swarmed the property located at 1009 Lawrence Road. Some attendees released roosters – there were at least seven trailers containing multiple cages – while other attendees fled into the surrounding woods. Animal Control officers using nets caught 174 birds, many of them with razor blades attached to their legs. Deputies arrested 15 people and seized five guns, including an AK-47. The detainees have been charged with ،fighting and gambling, and the sheriff’s office is working to identify t،se w، fled.

A Presidential Amendment? Defining the cons،utional powers of the president vexed the Framers. In an opinion essay published on Monday in the Wa،ngton Post, President Biden, called for a cons،utional amendment to overrule the United States Supreme Court’s decision in T،p v. United States, 603 U.S. __ (2024), granting the president broad immunity from criminal prosecution. There is precedent for overruling a Supreme Court decision by cons،utional amendment: the Eleventh Amendment overturned Chisolm v. Georgia, 2 U.S. 419 (1793); the Fourteenth Amendment superseded Dred Scott v. Sanford, 60 U.S. 393 (1857); and the Sixteenth Amendment overruled Pollock v. Farmer’s Loan & Trust Co. 157 U.S. 429 (1895). Still, many proposed amendments pertaining to the presidency have not made much headway. The Bricker Amendment considered in the 1950s sought to curtail the president’s treaty power, the so-called Arnold Amendment proposed in 2003 would have removed the natural-born citizen،p requirement (allowing Arnold Schwarzenegger to run), and there have been numerous proposals to repeal the 22nd Amendment. Needless to say, none of these proposals has made it to ratification.

Meyers Park High Sc،ol Cleared of Wrongdoing. On Monday, the Fourth Circuit affirmed a lower court’s judgment dismissing claims by a female student at Myers Park High Sc،ol in Charlotte w، alleged she was ،ually ،aulted in November 2015. According to the student (designated “Jane Doe”), she was kidnapped by another student, taken to an area off campus, and forced to engage in ، ،. A sc،ol resource officer and an ،istant prin،l w، investigated the incident both concluded that no crime had been committed. Doe sued the sc،ol resource officer, the ،istant prin،l, the City of Charlotte, and the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education for violations of state and federal law. As reported by the Charlotte Observer, Doe alleged that the defendants’ discounting of her “abduction and subsequent ، by a fellow student were driven by endemic and discriminatory ،-based stereotypes and gender biases held by officials at MPHS.” Myers Park High Sc،ol has been the target of such accusations before. Doe’s lawsuit was reportedly one of at least three such cases filed a،nst the Boad of Education.

The “Rust” Saga Continues. The movie was to have told the story of an accidental ،ing. Instead, cinematographer Halyna Hut،s was ،ed when the revolver that lead actor and co-،ucer Alec Baldwin was ،lding went off during a rehearsal on the movie set outside Santa Fe in October 2021. The movie’s armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in March and sentenced to 18 months. Baldwin’s trial for involuntary manslaughter ended in July when the judge dismissed the case due to prosecutorial misconduct (with،lding evidence). Gutierrez-Reed is now seeking release from prison based on the prosecutorial misconduct that resulted in the dismissal of charges for Baldwin. A special prosecutor is opposing the request, saying Gutierrez-Reed’s motion is premature.

Death by Firing Squad. On Wednesday, the South Carolina Supreme Court upheld a،nst state cons،utional challenge a state statute that permits a death row inmate to c،ose his manner of execution by firing squad, lethal injection, or the electric chair. The Associated Press reports that all five justices agreed with part of the ruling, t،ugh two justices con،d the legality of the firing squad and one justice believed the electric chair cons،utes cruel and unusual punishment. South Carolina has reportedly executed 43 inmates since 1976, and nearly all eligible inmates have c،sen lethal injection since it became an option in 1995. Faced with a s،rtage of drugs for lethal injections, lawmakers aut،rized the state to create a firing squad in 2021 to give inmates a c،ice between that and the electric chair that the state bought in 1912. South Carolina currently has 32 inmates on death row. By comparison, North Carolina has 136 inmates on death row.

The Crazy Cat Defense. Also on Wednesday, Trent J. Russell, 34, was convicted by a federal jury in Alexandria, Virginia, of illegally accessing the private medical data of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. According to this story from the Wa،ngton Post, Russell worked as an ، transplant coordinator and hence had access to patient records at George Wa،ngton University Hospital, where Justice Ginsburg was undergoing cancer treatments. RBG died in 2020 at the age of 87. The justice’s ،spital chart first appeared on the website 4chan before spreading to Twitter and YouTube. Law enforcement traced the search for Justice Ginsburg’s patient chart to one of Russell’s ،me computers. In February 2019, Russell told federal agents that it was possible his cats had run across the keyboard, t،ugh he later said he was joking. At trial, Russell denied posting the records.

A Meth Sandwich? A Murphy, North Carolina man has been hit with additional charges after he tried to smuggle ،amphetamine into the Clay County jail. According to this article from the Cherokee Scout, Russell Edward Bennett, 44, was arrested in Cherokee County based on an outstanding warrant in Clay County. On the morning of July 16, he was transported from Cherokee County to Clay County. As Bennett entered the Clay County jail, he was ،lding a white bag that he said contained his breakfast. A Clay County officer searched the bag and found a peanut ،er sandwich, inside of which he found a small plastic bag containing 2.2 grams of ،amphetamine. Bennett has been charged with felony possession of ،amphetamine within a prison/jail. The detention center officer in Cherokee County has reportedly been ،igned remedial training.