Smith's Criminal Case Compendium

Smith's Criminal Case Compendium

About

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.

Instructions

Navigate using the table of contents to the left or by using the search box below. Use quotations for an exact phrase search. A search for multiple terms without quotations functions as an “or” search. Not sure where to start? The 5 minute video tutorial offers a guided tour of main features – Launch Tutorial (opens in new tab).

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

Circumstantial evidence indicated that a juvenile wrote “BOMB INCOMING” in a school bathroom. Officers obtained a juvenile petition charging the juvenile with making a false report of mass violence on educational property in violation of G.S. 14-277.5. The petition alleged in pertinent part that the juvenile did “make a report by writing a note on the boy’s bathroom wall . . . stating ‘bomb incoming’.” The court of appeals held the petition to the same standard as a criminal indictment and found it to be defective for failing to allege that the juvenile made “a report.” The petition literally asserted that the juvenile made a report, but the court found that the described conduct clearly failed to constitute a report within the meaning of the statute. The message was not directed at anyone in particular, and a person who saw it would not likely view it as a warning of an imminent event.

Show Table of Contents