News Roundup

Published for NC Criminal Law on February 23, 2018.

The Durham Herald Sun reports that after District Court Judge Fred Battaglia acquitted one defendant and dismissed charges against two others allegedly involved in destroying a Confederate monument in Durham last year, Durham District Attorney Roger Echols announced that his office was dropping all remaining charges arising from the incident.  Echols said that because the evidence against the remaining defendants was the same as that introduced in the trials this week, it would be a misuse of state resources to continue to pursue the prosecutions.  Keep reading for more news. Gun Debate.  The nation continues to grapple with the divisive issue of gun control in the aftermath of last week’s mass shooting at a Florida high school.  Students across the country walked out of school, engaged in marches and rallies, and otherwise spoke out in a broad effort to pressure lawmakers at all levels of government towards gun reform.  President Donald Trump met with survivors of school shootings at the White House and ordered the Justice Department to issue regulations banning bump stocks.  Speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference, NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre said that gun control advocates and the media “hate individual freedom” and are exploiting the tragedy for political gain. Rockingham.  As has been exhaustively documented in the News Roundup, there has been much turbulence surrounding the Rockingham County District Attorney position in recent months.  Following Tom Keith’s announcement that he would resign from serving as the interim District Attorney, the Rockingham County Bar Association nominated Resident Superior [...]