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Past Issues

Please note: Smith Rodgers tries to delete legal updates once they are no longer good law. However, we cannot guarantee that all of the items on this page have not been superceded by legal changes since the time that they were written. Care should be taken to ensure that the law has not changed before relying on a legal update written years ago.

2019 Legal Updates:

›State v. Johnson: Lumps of Coal, Lumps of Crack ›Speaking Up for Child Victims ›State v. Holley:Resisting or Just Rude? ›State v. Reed: One Night in Sleepy Hollow ›Changes to Victims' Rights Law ›In re TTE: The Chair Throwing Case ›The New "Raise the Age" Law ›State v. Ellis: The Fickle Finger of Free Speech ›2019 Sausage Report: Legislative Update, Part One ›Mitchell v. Wisconsin: Another Supreme Schmerbering ›State v. Ellis: Knock & Talk & Wander & Peek ›Lost in the "Weed:" North Carolina's Hemp Problem ›Nieves v. Bartlett: The Arctic Man Avengers ›State v. Brown: What'd You Call Me? ›State v. Horton: Not Quite Reasonable ›State v. Shackleton: Social Media Stalking ›Predicting the Future: Anticipatory Search Warrants ›State v. Malachi: Blade Walker 2019 ›United States v. Abdallah: Interrupting to Remain Silent ›State v. Piland: Lingering and Loitering ›State v. Wilson: Fools Rush In... ›U.S. v. Lyles: One Man's Trash?

2018 Legal Updates:

›State v. Hamilton: When "Everything" Includes "Something" Which Seemed Like "Nothing" ›State v. Myers McNeil: When Reasonable Suspicion Evaporates ›State v. Mitchell: Consent to Enter and Photo Lineups ›State v. Frederick: Issues with Controlled Purchases Through a Middleman ›Entering a House to Make a Warrantless Arrest ›State v. Smith: Protective Sweeps and Plain View ›The Bird is the Word: The Arrival of Electric Scooters ›State v. Rogers: Maintaining a Vehicle ›State v. Mercer: Justification for Possession of Firearm By Felon ›2018 Legislative Summary ›Carpenter v. U.S.: CSLI Warrants ›State v. Sutton: The Wascally Wabbit Case ›Collins v. Virginia: Searching Vehicle in Curtilage Without a Warrant ›Byrd v. United States: Unauthorized Rental Car Drivers ›Airbnb Errors: What Happens When They Won't Leave? ›State v. Terrell: The Private Search Doctrine ›State v. Chekanow: Constructive Possession ›State v. Coley: Proving Intent to Sell or Deliver ›D.C. v. Wesby: Problems with Probable Cause at Peaches' Party ›State v. Reed: Ping-Pong, Pit Bulls, and Patrol Cars ›State v. Fuller: New Year, Same Old Nekkid Truth

2017 Legal Updates:

›Extending Non-Traffic Stops ›NC Supremes on Extending Traffic Stops ›Vehicle Searches ›Drive Casual: Spinning Tires and Reasonable Suspicion ›Droning On and On (Unmanned Aircraft Systems) ›Blarin', Revvin', Screechin', & Fishtailin' ›The Gang Suppression Act ›2017 Sausage Report (Legislative Review), Part Two ›2017 Sausage Report (Legislative Review), Part One ›Places Sex Offenders May Not Go ›Exigency for Blood Draws, Burris Part Two ›Custody for Miranda Purposes, Burris Part One ›Successful Interdiction in a Post-Rodriguez World ›Hot Pursuit ›State v. Huddy: The Unconstitutional Good Deed ›A Gant Search Update ›More Cases on Extending Traffic Stops ›When a Suspect's Falsehood Can Help Your Case ›Does Armed=Dangerous? ›State v. Burton

2016 Legal Updates:

›Half-Baked Ideas ›Connect the Dots ›Establishing the Reliability of a Tip ›The LEO's Role at the Polls ›Drug Transactions and Reasonable Suspicion ›A Quick Custodial Interrogation Update ›Too Drunk for Implied Consent ›State v. Pigford: Hold Your Nose ›2016 Sausage Report, Part Two ›2016 Sausage Report, Part One ›Birchfield v. North Dakota ›Two Odd Traffic Stop Cases ›Extending Traffic Stops, Part Two ›Extending Traffic Stops, Part One ›Blood From an Unconscious Defendant ›How To Tell When You're Not Welcome ›Strip Searches Can Get Hairy ›Trespass v. Eviction Refresher ›Bail Bondsmen in North Carolina ›CRITICAL 4th CIRCUIT TASER CASE memo

2015 Legal Updates:

›The Value of Human Intelligence ›Protective Sweeps & Probation ›Maintaining a Dwelling for Keeping/Selling Controlled Substances ›The Right to Have a Parent Present ›Vehicle Search Based on Warrant For Home ›2015 Sausage Report, Part Three (Show-ups, DNA Samples, and More) ›2015 Sausage Report, Part Two (Traffic and Other Laws You Need to Know) ›2015 Changes to Firearms Law ›2015 Sausage Report, Part One (Sex, Drugs, Graffiti, and Theme Park Rides) ›Step By Step Through the Fourth Amendment ›Good Samaritan Law Gets Some Help ›Walking Away All Over Again ›State v. Leak ›The Mysterious BB Gun ›The Search of an Old-School GPS Device ›Rodriguez v. United States ›Searching for Alcohol Incident to Arrest ›Plain View Revisited ›Getting Video Into Evidence ›Notifying Parents When Child Misbehaves ›The "Ziploc" Defense at Checkpoints ›Vehicles That Try to Evade You ›A Brief Look at RDO Charges

2014 Legal Updates:

›Heien v. North Carolina ›Recent DWI Cases ›Search Warrant Problems ›Consent vs. Surrender ›Avoiding Entrapment Issues ›DWI Hospital Blood Records ›Portable Breath Tests ›Obtaining DNA Through Trickeration ›2014 Sausage Report: Legislative Review ›An Interesting Interrogation Incident ›How Not to Interdict ›Riley v. California: The Cell Phone Case ›Runaways and Missing Persons ›Officers' Powers Outside Their Jurisdiction ›Walking Away and Reasonable Suspicion ›Anonymous Tips Revisited: Navarette v. California ›The Good Samaritan Law ›Miranda at a Wreck Scene ›Constitutionally Protected Bizarre Behavior ›Fernandez v. California: Co-habitant Consent ›Drug House Search Warrants ›NC Adopts the Community Caretaking Doctrine ›How Crawford v. Washington Can Affect Your Case ›State v. Dahlquist: New Year, Same Schmerber

2013 Legal Updates:

›NC's New DWLR Law ›Searching Occupants of a Dirty Vehicle ›Investigative Stops Gone Wrong, Part Two ›Investigative Stops Gone Wrong, Part One ›The Rule of Two & Reasonable Suspicion ›NC's New Prostitution Laws ›2013 Sausage Report, Part 2: Drugs, Alcohol, and Motor Vehicles ›2013 Sausage Report, Part 1: New Offenses and Penalties ›2013 Changes to Firearm Laws ›REPOST BY POPULAR DEMAND: Drivers Are Required to Present License On Demand ›Open Carry in North Carolina: The Law on Gunslinging ›Two Reasonable Suspicion Cases ›I'll Huff and I'll Puff: Forced Entry to Serve Arrest Warrant ›Skeletons (and a Grenade) in the Closet: U.S. v. Yengel ›For Whom The Phone Rings: U.S. v. Lawing ›Schmerber Fervor: Missouri v. McNeely ›Knock and Sniff: Florida v. Jardines ›Impounding Property While Obtaining A Search Warrant ›Exigent Entry Pop Quiz ›Bailey v. US: Detaining People During Search Warrants ›Keep Your Shorts On! Another Strip Search Case ›A Super Bowl Guide for When You May Interrogate ›Interrogation Waiver Forms and Instructions (right-click link and select "Save Target As..." to download.) ›An Interrogation Flowchart ›Search Warrants, Purses, and Gated Communities: Best and Worst of 2012

2012 Legal Updates:

›Service Dogs and the Right of Access ›Back Door Buddies: You're Not Always Welcome ›Visual Estimates of Speed: Traffic Stops Based on Math ›Protective Sweeps of Residences ›Warrantless Searches of Probationers ›Going to the Dogs, Part Two ›Going to the Dogs ›N.C. Confidential: Address Confidentiality in Chapter 15C ›Recent Case Roundup Part 2 ›Recent Case Roundup Part 1 ›The Reasonableness of a Lengthy Investigative Stop ›50-C No Contact Orders ›Can Defense Attorneys Get Your Personal Cell Phone? ›No Holding Cells For Young People ›Failing to Return a Rental Vehicle on Time ›U.S. Supreme Court on Jail Strip Searches: from Kevin Smith, Smith Rodgers, PLLC ›Consent Searches: How Much Damage Can I Do? ›Howe v. Fields: Just Because You're In Custody... ›On Ballance: Peeps, Apple Jacks, and Open Fields ›Back to Mbacke: N.C. Supreme Court Tries to Clarify Gant ›Supreme Court Rules on GPS Tracking: Is It 1984 Yet? ›Cuts Like A Knife: Unreasonable Methods of Seizure

2011 Legal Updates:

›Who Is This Guy? No Frisking For Identification ›Officers' Criminal Liability Under Amended Discovery Statute: Written By Alan Leonard, SR Attorney ›Memorandum On New "Run and You're Done" Law: Written by Eddie Caldwell, Executive Vice President and General Counsel of the N.C. Sheriff's Association ›Mutual Aid Agreements: Pilgrims, the Wampanoag, and Thanksgiving ›Three Domestic Violence Tools You Should Know About ›U.S. v. Digiovanni ›2011 Gun Law Changes ›Davis v. United States Good News, Bad News ›J.D.B. v. North Carolina Age Is An Issue of Mind ›Camreta v. Greene: A Tale Full of Sound and Fury ›Police-created Exigent Circumstances: That Ain't Opportunity Knocking ›Ethen's Law: Assaults on Unborn Children ›I Want Mommy! Interrogating Juveniles ›All In Good Faith: N.C. Law and the Good Faith Exception ›March Madness: The Laws Basketball Fans Need To Know ›Life in the Fishbowl: N.C. Public Records Law ›Feeling Frisky: Terry Frisks and Containers ›Intent To Sell Or Deliver: Can You Prove It?

2010 Legal Updates:

›Emergency Entries Into Residences ›Interception of Oral Communications at the Police Department ›Do You Speak Drugese? Expert Testimony on Drug Code Words ›Do's and Don'ts of Interrogation ›Smile! You're On Candid Camera: Citizens Who Videotape The Police ›Constructive Possession Part Two: Pop Quiz Edition ›Deconstructing the Law of Constructive Possession ›Miranda Breaks The Language Barrier ›The Plain Feel Doctrine ›Reasonable Suspicion Pop Quiz ›More on Miranda: Berghuis v. Thompkins ›How To Conduct A Legal Checkpoint ›The Legal Question Grab Bag ›State v. Battle: Peek-a-boo Searches Revisited ›Count On It: The Law of the 2010 Census ›Maryland v. Shatzer: Ernesto Miranda and the Fortnight Rule ›Cigar Guts: The Importance of Articulation ›DWI Compelled Blood Draws: Squeezing Blood From A Drunken Turnip ›Stuff You Already Know: Exigent circumstances; handcuffing during investigative stop

2009 Legal Updates:

›Santa's Grab Bag: Three topics - civil repossession, habitual misdemeanor assault, social networking sites ›Splitting The Baby: A Look At Child Custody Enforcement ›Flight and Reasonable Suspicion ›Snakes In A Box: G.S. 14-416 et. seq. ›2009 Probation Reform ›Is Your Front Yard A Public Place? ›The Law on Brouhahas: Disorderly Conduct ›School Strip Searches: Safford v. Redding ›Montejo v. Louisiana: The Sixth Amendment and Interrogation ›Gunslinging Part 2: Officers Carrying Concealed. ›Arizona v. Gant: U.S. Supreme Court case on searching vehicles incident to arrest ›Confidential Informants: Discovery Dilemmas, Part 2 ›Discovery Dilemmas: Keeping Your Cards Close To Your Chest ›Oooh, That Smell: The Plain Smell Doctrine ›A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words: Photo Lineups ›Consent-Once-Removed: When Your Houseguest Brings The Police ›Arizona v. Johnson and the Frisk ›Rental Cars and Reasonable Expectations: Can you search a rental car driven by an "unauthorized" driver? ›When Parents Call The Police: How To Deal With Undisciplined Juveniles

2008 Legal Updates:

›The Little Rascals: The Street Gang Suppression Act of 2008 ›Cardboard Castles: The Homeless and the 4th Amendment ›How To Get Out Of Going To Court ›Crack House Customer Stops: Reasonable suspicion ›Misdemeanor Arrests ›Drunks Drive The Best Cars: DWI Vehicle Seizures ›10 Commandments of Testifying

Most Requested Legal Updates Pre-2008:

›Trespass or Eviction Memorandum ›Trespass in a Commercial Establishment

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Smith Rodgers, PLLC, Law Enforcement Attorneys, P.O. Box 4803, Greensboro, NC 27404-4803