Smith's Criminal Case Compendium
Table of Contents
Criminal Procedure
Indictment & Pleading Issues
Evidence
Criminal Offenses
Drug Offenses
Wright v. Town of Zebulon, 202 N.C. App. 540 (Feb. 16, 2010)
Police department did not act “willfully” within the meaning of the North Carolina Electronic Surveillance Act (NCESA) by monitoring an officer’s conversations in his patrol car in response to information that the officer was engaging in misconduct. As used in the NCESA, the term requires that the act be done with a bad purpose or without justifiable excuse. Where, as here, the monitoring is done to ensure public safety, it is not done with a bad purpose or without justifiable excuse.