Updated Chapters in the Superior Court Judges’ Benchbook

Several chapters in the criminal law and evidence sections of the Superior Court Judges’ Benchbook recently have been updated. Among those chapters is Indictments, written by Joe Hyde, which begins by noting the significance of the North Carolina Supreme Court’s decision in State v. Singleton, 386 N.C. 183 (2024). Singleton, as you may recall, concluded that the legislature had abrogated the common law rule that the failure to allege each element of an offense deprives the trial court of jurisdiction. That holding upended the traditional analysis of whether certain pleading defects are fatal to the State’s case.

Phil Dixon has updated the chapter on Crawford & the Confrontation Clause. The 2026 version unpacks the United States Supreme Court’s opinion in Smith v. Arizona, 602 U.S. 779 (2024), which rejected the notion that the Confrontation Clause is not implicated when an expert testifies to another expert’s statements as the basis for the testifying expert’s opinions. The chapter goes on to discuss North Carolina cases following Smith. It also incorporates a new Confrontation Clause flowchart.

Other chapters with recent updates are Jury Selection, Content of Opening Statements and Closing Arguments, Absolute Impasse, and Jury Misconduct. These chapters were updated by Christopher Tyner, a research attorney for the School.

Benchbook chapters are written to guide the work of superior court judges but also are useful for criminal law practitioners. The entire benchbook is available here, with no charge for access.

I serve as editor for the benchbook and welcome your comments and suggestions regarding its contents. You can reach me at denning@sog.unc.edu.