NC Conference of District Attorneys
Legislators advance bills giving more powers to prosecutors
Members of the Senate Rules Committee advanced two bills Thursday that would allow district attorneys to file a petition to modify a person’s probation and permit prosecutors to appoint at least one special investigator. House Bill 116 would allow district attorneys to recuse themselves from cases for “good cause” and permit each prosecutorial district across […]
Are NC district attorneys a roadblock to needed criminal justice reform?
Lawmakers, civil rights groups and researchers say DAs often thwart necessary change Jim Woodall made a promise to the family of Eve Carson, the UNC-Chapel Hill student body president who was murdered in 2008. Laurence Alvin Lovette Jr., 17 years old at the time, was convicted of first-degree murder for killing Carson after a robbery attempt.
Individuals charged with misdemeanors could get their first appearance in NC courts sooner under bipartisan bill
Under state law, individuals charged with felony offenses are guaranteed a first appearance hearing before a district court official within 96 hours after they are taken into custody. But the same rule doesn’t apply to those facing misdemeanor charges. On Wednesday, however, a House bill that would make the time limit uniform for felonies and […]
Flower to the people: NC law enforcement, prosecutors say not so fast
North Carolina law enforcement officials and prosecutors are getting blunt about their position on smokable hemp: it looks like weed, it smells like weed and officers can’t tell it apart from weed, so ban it. “Since smokable hemp and marijuana are indistinguishable by appearance and odor, without enactment of legislation clearly banning smokable hemp, we […]