Smith's Criminal Case Compendium

Smith's Criminal Case Compendium

About

This compendium includes significant criminal cases by the U.S. Supreme Court & N.C. appellate courts, Nov. 2008 – Present. Selected 4th Circuit cases also are included.

Jessica Smith prepared case summaries Nov. 2008-June 4, 2019; later summaries are prepared by other School staff.

Instructions

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E.g., 04/28/2025
E.g., 04/28/2025

In this Jackson County case, defendant appealed his convictions for felony obtaining property by false pretenses and felony identity fraud, arguing error in (1) admitting ATM videos of defendant that were not properly authenticated, and (2) allowing lay-opinion testimony from an officer...

In this Rowan County case, defendant appealed his convictions for statutory rape of a child fifteen years old or younger, statutory sex offense with a child fifteen years old or younger, and indecent liberties with a child, arguing (1) error in admitting an hour-long video interview of the...

The trial court did not commit plain error by admitting for illustrative purposes a Facebook picture of the defendant and an accomplice in which the defendant’s middle finger was extended. At trial the State called a detective who testified that the victim showed him a picture of the defendant...

In this armed robbery case, the trial court did not err by admitting photographs for illustrative purposes. The photographs were admitted solely to illustrate the testimony of witnesses and the trial court appropriately instructed the jury. The court rejected the defendant’s argument that...

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