Case Summaries – N.C. Supreme Court (Feb. 28, 2020)

This post summarizes cases from the North Carolina Supreme Court from February 28, 2020. In narrow circumstances, the common law defense of justification may be an affirmative defense to a charge of possession of a firearm by a felon under G.S. 14-415.1 State v. Mercer, ___ N.C. ___, ___ S.E.2d ___ (Feb. 28, 2020).  Confronting a question of first impression, the court held that “in narrow and extraordinary circumstances” the common law defense of justification may be an affirmative defense to a charge of possession of a firearm by a felon under G.S. 14-415.1.  Noting that justification is an affirmative defense which a defendant carries the burden of proving at trial, the court joined the Court of Appeals in adopting an analysis from United States v. Deleveaux, 205 F.3d 1292 (11th Cir. 2000) and held that a defendant invoking justification as a defense to a violation of G.S. 14-415.1 must show: (1) that the defendant was under unlawful and present, imminent, and impending threat of death or serious bodily injury; (2) that the defendant did not negligently or recklessly place himself in a situation where he would be forced to engage in criminal conduct; (3) that the defendant had no reasonable legal alternative to violating the law; and (4) that there was a direct causal relationship between the criminal action and the avoidance of the threatened harm. Having established that justification is a defense to a violation of G.S. 14-415.1, the court examined whether the defendant in this case was entitled [...]