Smith's Criminal Case Compendium
Smith's Criminal Case Compendium
Table of Contents
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.
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The defendant was found guilty of criminal contempt relating to his unauthorized Facebook livestreaming of Macon County criminal superior court proceedings. The trial judge sentenced the defendant to 30 days in jail but suspended the sentence on numerous conditions. One condition required...
In this Davidson County case, the defendant pled guilty to a drug offense and received 12 months of supervised probation. His probation officer filed a violation report alleging positive drug screens and other violations. At the violation hearing, the defendant chose to represent himself. The...
In this Gaston County case, the defendant was summarily found in direct criminal contempt by a magistrate. The contempt order arose out of a situation where the defendant came to the magistrate’s office to report a death threat she had received on her cell phone. The magistrate declined to...
The defendant was served with subpoenas for her and her children to testify in a murder trial. She was first served by telephone by the Watauga County Sheriff’s deputy and later served personally. The defendant and her children did not appear as commanded. (This led to an improperly...
The defendant in this case was found in criminal contempt after failing to appear as a witness at an assault on a female trial involving her husband where she was the alleged victim. The court first determined that failing to appear as a witness when subpoenaed is punishable as criminal...
In this direct criminal contempt case involving summary proceedings where the defendant was sentenced for two instances of contempt, the Court of Appeals determined as a matter of first impression that the defendant did not have a statutory right to appointed counsel under G.S. 7A-451(a)(1). ...
The defendant entered into a plea agreement with the State in superior court, after he appealed for a trial de novo, under which he would plead guilty to misdemeanor larceny and first-degree trespassing and receive a suspended sentence of 180 days, with a split sentence of 30 days. The...
The trial judge in this case issued a show cause order for defendant to appear and show cause why he should not be held in criminal contempt for recording the proceedings before the trial judge and posting them on Facebook, contrary to courtroom policy and warnings. (1) The Court of Appeals...
At the conclusion of a probation revocation hearing, the defendant yelled vulgarities within earshot of the court. The trial court found the defendant in criminal contempt and sentenced him to an additional 30 days, consecutive to his other sentences. The trial court did not give the defendant...
The trial court did not err by holding the defendant in direct criminal contempt for statements he made during closing arguments in this pro se case. On appeal, the defendant argued that his actions were not willful and that willfulness must be considered in the context of his lack of legal...
(1) The court rejected the defendant’s argument that the trial court considered inadmissible hearsay in finding him in criminal contempt, reasoning that the evidence was admitted not for the truth of the matter asserted but rather for corroboration. At the show cause hearing the trial court...
The trial court did not err by imposing consecutive sentences for multiple findings of contempt. The trial court had sentenced the defendant to six consecutive 30-day terms of imprisonment based on six findings of direct criminal contempt.
Trial court did not err by holding the defendant in criminal contempt for willfully violating the Consent Order provision which forbade her from allowing the children to be in the presence of a convicted sex offender.
A criminal contempt order was fatally deficient where it failed to indicate that the standard of proof was proof beyond a reasonable doubt.
For reasons discussed in the opinion, the court affirmed the trial judge’s order finding defense counsel in contempt of court for willfully disobeying a court order regarding permissible inquiry under the Rape Shield statute.