The North Carolina Bar Association’s Criminal Justice Section had its annual awards dinner last night. As always, it was an inspiration. Senior Deputy Attorney General Jim Coman received the Peter Gilchrist award as an outstanding career prosecutor, and Guilford County Public Defender Fred Lind received the Wade Smith Award as an outstanding career defense attorney. There was a large and boisterous crowd. Fred and Jim were both young lawyers in Greensboro a few decades back, so there was a great deal of reminiscing about the good old days. Fred once tried four jury trials in a single week, while Jim’s departure from the local district attorney’s office prompted a jubilant defense bar to give him a farewell gift. Both Fred and Jim have far exceeded the 200 jury trial mark in their careers. Congratulations to both. In other news: 1. Courthouse expansion in Buncombe County. The Asheville Citizen-Times reports here on the opening of the Buncombe County courthouse annex. It looks great and has room for future growth. 2. Georgia v. Randolph revisited, and perhaps to be reconsidered. The United States Supreme Court heard oral argument this week in Fernandez v. California, which presents the following question: “Whether, under Georgia v. Randolph, a defendant must be personally present and objecting when police officers ask a co-tenant for consent to conduct a warrantless search or whether a defendant’s previously stated objection, while physically present, to a warrantless search is a continuing assertion of 4th Amendment rights which cannot be overridden by a [...]
Faculty Coordinators
