by Michelle Sparrow | Feb 24, 2011 | Criminal Law Blog, Homicide
The Wake County trial of a doctor involved in a fatal crash has grabbed local headlines. The charges of driving while impaired and second-degree murder are based on police allegations that the defendant’s blood alcohol content was nearly twice the 0.08 limit and... by Michelle Sparrow | Feb 22, 2011 | Criminal Defense, Criminal Law Blog
We’ve been discussing the “CSI Effect” — that is, the strongly held belief that jurors are so accustomed to television’s forensic acrobatics that they expect real-life prosecutors to present the same type of evidence. Criminal defense... by Michelle Sparrow | Feb 17, 2011 | Criminal Defense, Criminal Law Blog
In our last post, we were talking about the “CSI Effect.” Prosecutors in North Carolina and around the country have complained for a while now that American jurors are so swept up in the high-tech world of television forensics that they expect real-life... by Michelle Sparrow | Feb 15, 2011 | Criminal Defense, Criminal Law Blog
Debates about forensic evidence are not new in North Carolina. For a while last year, it seemed you couldn’t pick up a paper without seeing a story about the problems at the state crime lab and the State Bureau of Investigation. A major concern for defense... by Michelle Sparrow | Feb 11, 2011 | Criminal Law Blog, Drunk Driving
Laura was killed last July when a drunk driver slammed into the car carrying the 17-year-old and two friends. The driver had three DWI convictions already. The accident sparked a good deal of discussion about North Carolina’s continuous alcohol monitoring...