by Michelle Sparrow | Apr 26, 2013 | Criminal Law Blog, Homicide
A Wake County Superior Court judge ruled this week that a husband and wife charged with murder will have separate trials. Both attorneys and the district attorney’s office had initially agreed to one trial for both defendants. In early April, though, the... by Michelle Sparrow | Apr 2, 2013 | Criminal Defense, Criminal Law Blog
What started as a simple transfer to a mental health facility ended in the patient’s death at the hands of Wake County sheriff’s deputies on Easter Sunday. As is standard procedure in any officer-involved shooting, the North Carolina State Bureau of... by Michelle Sparrow | Mar 6, 2013 | Criminal Law Blog, Homicide
Since the Newtown shootings, public debate has focused on gun violence and mental health resources. That tragedy and others have pointed out that neither the government nor the health care sector has figured out the best way to help people with mental illness before... by Michelle Sparrow | Feb 28, 2013 | Criminal Law Blog, Homicide
How do you know a person is mentally competent? How can we ever be sure a person who has a history of mental illness is competent enough to stand trial or to enter a plea agreement? There is no easy answer, of course. A plea agreement in a Wake County case illustrates... by Michelle Sparrow | Aug 10, 2012 | Criminal Law Blog, Homicide
A jury sat in a Wake County courtroom earlier this week watching a videotaped interrogation. A Knightdale police officer and a North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation agent were asking a suspect about his involvement in a January 2010 homicide. The...