Appellate Court Opinions

Chapter 50, termination of jurisdiction, custody, visitation, improper delegation, clear and convincing evidence, permanency planning

Termination of parental rights, Rule 17 guardian ad litem

termination of parental rights; neglect; N.C. Gen. Stat. 7B-1111(a)(1); incarceration; likelihood of future neglect.

Summary judgment; Testamentary capacity; Undue influence; Rule 56(f); Abuse of discretion; Prima facie case for trial.

elimination of reunification; waiver of future review hearings

involuntary commitment, decompensation, insufficient evidence, danger to self

involuntary commitment, decompensation, insufficient evidence, danger to self

no-merit brief; termination of parental rights; neglect; ineffective assistance of counsel.

Termination of parental rights;
Neglect;
Case Plan Efficacy;
Failure to understand reasons for removal;
Probable repetition of future neglect;

N.C. Gen. Stat. § 7B-906.1(a); Removal of Custody; Review Hearings

no-merit brief; N.C.R. App. P. 3.1(e); termination of parental rights

termination of parental rights; Anders brief; no-merit appeal; N.C. Rule of Appellate Procedure 3.1(e).

First-degree murder;
Rule of Evidence 702;
Lay opinion testimony describing video footage;
Plain error;
Ineffective assistance of counsel;
Possession of a Firearm by a Felon;

Possession of a firearm by a felon; opinion testimony; speculative testimony; shorthand statement of fact; motion to dismiss for insufficient evidence; jury instructions; constructive possession

Rule of lenity; jury instructions.

probation revocation, ineffective assistance of counsel, good cause.

first-degree murder; attempted murder; discharging a firearm within an occupied enclosure with the intent to incite fear; self-defense; felony-disqualifier limiting instruction under N.C. Gen. Stat. 14-51.4(1); defense of accident; unpreserved constitutional argument; Rule 2

Constitutionality of N.C. Gen. Stat. 14-415.1, possession of firearm by felon, sufficient evidence of conspiracy, circumstantial evidence of agreement beyond prior relationships or connections

motion to dismiss; sexual abuse; plain error; cumulative analysis; domestic violence; 'bad acts' evidence.

Anders brief; Alford guilty plea; PWC granted for review of non-sentencing errors