Smith's Criminal Case Compendium
Smith's Criminal Case Compendium
Table of Contents
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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In 2011 the defendant was charged with first-degree murder, robbery with a dangerous weapon, and conspiracy to commit robbery with a dangerous weapon for his participation in a murder allegedly committed by Taurus Locklear and Shawn Jones. A plea agreement allowed the defendant to plead...
In this Pasquotank County case, defendant appealed denial of his attempt to withdraw a guilty plea under N.C.G.S § 15A-1024. After reviewing the matter, the Court of Appeals vacated the judgment and remanded.
After a string of break-ins in the Elizabeth City area in 2019, defendant was...
The defendant entered an Alford plea pursuant to a plea agreement where convictions for felony larceny and felony possession of a stolen motor vehicle would be consolidated for sentencing. The defendant failed to appear at a scheduled sentencing hearing and was later...
In this case involving a motion to withdraw a plea and an MAR, the trial court did not err by denying the defendant’s motions. On April 10, 2018 the defendant pleaded guilty to felony drug offenses, answering affirmatively that he understood the charges to which he was pleading and that he was...
Pursuant to a plea agreement, the defendant entered a no contest plea to charges including fleeing to elude and being an habitual felon, and in return several other charges were dismissed by the state. The defendant was advised of what his sentence would be, but was released on conditions until...
The trial court did not err by denying the defendant’s motion to withdraw his Alford plea. After finding that there was no support in the record for various factual assertions made by the defendant on appeal, the court found that the defendant had offered no fair and just reason for...
The trial court did not err by denying the defendant’s post-sentence motion to withdraw her guilty plea. On appeal the defendant argued that the trial court erred by denying her motion because the plea agreement and plea colloquy contained no indication that a fine would be imposed as part of...
In this robbery case, the trial court did not err by denying the defendant’s motion to withdraw his guilty plea. Shortly after the jury was empaneled, the defendant decided to enter into a plea arrangement with the State. In exchange for his guilty plea, the defendant received a PJC, apparently...
The trial court did not err by denying the defendant’s motion to withdraw his guilty plea. When a defendant seeks to withdraw a guilty plea after being sentenced consistent with a plea agreement, the defendant is entitled to withdraw his plea only upon a showing of manifest injustice. Factors...
The trial court did not err by denying the defendant’s motion to withdraw his plea, made before sentencing. The fact that the plea was a no contest or Alford plea did not establish an assertion of legal innocence for purposes of the State v. Handy analysis that applies to pre-...
The trial court did not err in denying the defendant’s motion to withdraw a plea, made after sentencing. Such pleas should be granted only to avoid manifest injustice, which was not shown on the facts presented.
The trial court did not err in denying the defendant’s motion to withdraw his plea before sentencing; no fair and just reason supported the motion.