G.S. 14-196.3 prohibits “cyberstalking,” which the statute generally defines to mean using electronic communications to threaten, extort, make an abusive or embarrassing false statement about, or repeatedly harass another person. As Jessie noted in this prior post, cyberstalking has become a frequently charged offense. It can be committed by text message, email, Facebook, and other means. I’ve been asked several times recently whether the so-called 48 hour rule, set forth in G.S. 15A-534.1, applies to cyberstalking. That statute provides that for certain domestic violence crimes, bond must normally be set by a judge rather than a magistrate. The statute allows a defendant to be held for up to 48 hours if a judge is not immediately available. I’ve previously written about the 48 hour rule here. The 48 hour rule applies to “all cases in which the defendant is charged with assault on, stalking, communicating a threat to, or committing [certain felonies] upon a spouse or former spouse or a person with whom the defendant lives or has lived as if married, with domestic criminal trespass, or with violation of [a DVPO].” Does the statute’s reference to “stalking” include cyberstalking? I don’t think so, for two reasons. First, although the 48 hour rule has been around since 1995, S.L. 1995-527, “stalking” was only added to the statute in 2007, S.L. 2007-14. Both the original stalking statute, G.S. 14-277 (enacted by S.L. 2001-518), and the cyberstalking statute (enacted by S.L. 2000-125) existed at that time. The General Assembly’s decision to add the [...]
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