News Roundup

Published for NC Criminal Law on August 04, 2017.

As the Washington Post reports, the Senate confirmed Christopher A. Wray as Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation earlier this week.  Wray served as Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Criminal Division of the Justice Department from 2003 to 2005.  At the Justice Department, Wray worked under former FBI director James Comey who was serving as Deputy Attorney General during that time.  Wray was confirmed with bipartisan support, and was sworn in by Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Wednesday.  Keep reading for more news. NCDOJ Lay Offs.  The Asheville Citizen-Times reports that Attorney General Josh Stein has laid off 23 attorneys and a similar number of support staff in response to a $10 million cut to the budget of the North Carolina Department of Justice.  The Citizen-Times report says that because of the layoffs, local prosecutors will be tasked with handling initial appeals for misdemeanor cases and probation revocations, and will also handle appeals brought by pro se defendants. Manhunt Update.  Last week the News Roundup noted that a manhunt in Western North Carolina ended with the arrest of Phillip Michael Stroupe, II, in McDowell County, but that a Mills River man, Tommy Bryson, who owned the truck Stroupe was driving when captured was missing and thought to have been kidnapped.  Sadly, Bryson was found dead over the weekend.  Stroupe has been charged with murder and District Attorney Greg Newman announced that he would seek the death penalty in the case.  WLOS reports that hundreds of people attended a [...]