Updated Chapters in Superior Court Judges’ Benchbook

Three chapters in the criminal law section of the Superior Court Judges’ Benchbook recently have been updated. Among those chapters is Joinder and Severance, which addresses the joinder and severance of both offenses and defendants for trial, including the factors used to assess whether joinder is appropriate, the applicable procedural rules, and potential remedies for failure to join offenses for trial. The revised chapter accounts for developments in the case law since the previous version was published in January 2017, including State v. Schalow, 379 N.C. 639, 654 (2021) (summarized here), in which the state supreme court reversed a court of appeals holding that the presence of certain circumstances compelled dismissal of the charges for the State’s failure to join offenses.

Other chapters with recent updates are Jury Verdict (which now addresses the need for a special verdict form in certain second-degree murder cases) and Jury View.

The chapters are written to guide the work of superior court judges but also are useful for criminal law practitioners. All of the criminal law chapters are available here, and the title entries for those that have been recently updated contain a parenthetical notation to that effect.

Christopher Tyner, a research attorney for the School, updated these chapters and will continue to update other entries in the on-line manual. I serve as editor and welcome your comments and suggestions about the Benchbook.  You can reach me at denning@sog.unc.edu.

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