Smith's Criminal Case Compendium

Smith's Criminal Case Compendium

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This compendium includes significant criminal cases by the U.S. Supreme Court & N.C. appellate courts, Nov. 2008 – Present. Selected 4th Circuit cases also are included.

Jessica Smith prepared case summaries Nov. 2008-June 4, 2019; later summaries are prepared by other School staff.

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E.g., 04/27/2024
E.g., 04/27/2024

Citing State v. Cowan, 207 N.C. App. 192, 204 (Sept. 21, 2010), the court rejected the defendant’s argument that the trial court erred by determining that indecent liberties involved the physical, mental, or sexual abuse of a minor.

State v. Cowan, 207 N.C. App. 192 (Sept. 21, 2010)

Assuming without deciding that an elements-based approach should be used when determining eligibility for SBM under G.S. 14-208.40(a)(2), the trial court did not err by requiring the defendant, who had pleaded guilty to solicitation of indecent liberties, to enroll in SBM on the grounds that the offense involved the physical, mental, or sexual abuse of a minor. Interpreting the word “involve,” the court concluded that eligibility for SBM under G.S. 14-208.40(a)(2) includes both completed acts and acts that create a substantial risk that such abuse will occur. The court determined that an attempt to take an indecent liberty has “within or as part of itself” the physical, mental, or sexual abuse of a minor. It concluded that although solicitation of an indecent liberty need not involve the commission of the completed crime, an effort to “counsel, entice, or induce” another to commit that crime also creates a substantial risk that the “physical, mental, or sexual abuse of a minor” will occur, so that such a solicitation has the sexual abuse of a minor “as a “necessary accompaniment.”

Statutory rape constitutes an offense involving the physical, mental, or sexual abuse of a minor. Once the trial judge determines that the defendant has been convicted of such an offense, the trial judge should order the DOC to perform a risk assessment. The trial court then must decide, based on the risk assessment and any other evidence presented, whether defendant requires “the highest possible level of supervision and monitoring.” If the trial court determines that the defendant requires such supervision and monitoring, then the court must order the offender to enroll in SBM for a period of time specified by the court.

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