Constitutional Cases
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Constitutional

North CarolinaConstitutionalCriminalDrug Law
North Carolina Court of Appeals
Uncategorized

Humphrey — Thirteen-juror deliberation requires new drug-death trial

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The Court of Appeals reversed and ordered a new trial. Allowing thirteen jurors to deliberate violated both the governing statute and the North Carolina Constitution’s twelve-juror guarantee. The judge’s mixed instruction to restart but await directions to continue or begin was not the clear, unequivocal safeguard the law requires. The error was both structural in character and prejudicial, so the court did not reach the sentencing issue.

North CarolinaAppellate ProcedureConstitutionalCriminal
North Carolina Court of Appeals
Uncategorized

Benson — Agreed trial strategy defeats ineffective-assistance challenge

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The Court of Appeals found no error. Counsel did not concede guilt to the Pender County charges; the argument attempted to connect incriminating statements to different allegations and focus the jury on the State’s burden. The on-record discussion showed Benson knowingly accepted that strategy. The court also held that the substantial evidence of guilt defeated any showing of Strickland prejudice.

North CarolinaConstitutionalCriminalTrial Practice
North Carolina Court of Appeals
Uncategorized

Cuadra — Witness misconduct did not justify dismissal of assault charge

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The Court of Appeals reversed. Although evidence supported some findings about the witnesses’ conduct, the supported findings did not show a flagrant constitutional violation that irreparably prejudiced Cuadra’s preparation of his defense with no available remedy other than dismissal. The case was remanded for further proceedings that may include a new trial; a concurrence emphasized the availability of lesser sanctions such as a mistrial.

North CarolinaConstitutionalFamily LawJuvenile Law
North Carolina Court of Appeals
Uncategorized

M.A.F. — Ineffective-assistance claim in termination case requires trial-court inquiry

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The published opinion remanded for the trial court to determine whether counsel performed deficiently and, if so, whether those deficiencies deprived the mother of a fair hearing. The existing appellate record did not permit the Court of Appeals to resolve the fact-sensitive ineffective-assistance questions itself. A separate concurrence elaborated on the standards the trial court should use on remand.

North CarolinaCivil RightsConstitutionalParental Rights
North Carolina Court of Appeals
Uncategorized

Happel v. Guilford Cnty. Bd. of Educ. — Private Medical Society Sufficiently Alleged as State Actor for Corum Claim After Unwanted COVID Vaccine

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A divided North Carolina Court of Appeals held on remand that a private medical society that administered a COVID-19 vaccine to a fourteen-year-old over his objection and without parental consent was sufficiently alleged to be a state actor for a Corum constitutional claim, and that the PREP Act’s complete bar on tort remedies itself satisfies the “no adequate state remedy” element required to bring a direct claim under the North Carolina Constitution.

North CarolinaAdministrative LawConstitutionalEmployment
North Carolina Court of Appeals
Uncategorized

Lemaster v. NC Department of State Treasurer — OAH Lacks Jurisdiction to Rule on Constitutional Challenge to TSERS Service-Repurchase Statute

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The North Carolina Court of Appeals held that the OAH lacks subject-matter jurisdiction over a TSERS member’s claim that the 2021 repeal of N.C.G.S. § 135-4(k)—which capped service-credit repurchases at five years—unconstitutionally impaired his vested contractual pension rights, because constitutionality questions are reserved for the judicial branch and fall outside the OAH’s statutory grant of authority.

North CarolinaCivil RightsConstitutionalParental Rights
North Carolina Court of Appeals
Uncategorized

Happel v. Guilford County Board of Education — State Constitutional Claims Over Unconsented COVID Vaccine Survive PREP Act; Medical Non-Profit Adequately Alleged as State Actor

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On remand from the North Carolina Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals held that Plaintiffs’ state constitutional claims arising from an unconsented COVID-19 vaccination administered to a minor at a school-based clinic may proceed: the private medical non-profit operating the clinic was adequately alleged to be a state actor under a joint-engagement theory, and the PREP Act’s immunity over tort claims leaves no adequate state remedy, satisfying all elements of a Corum claim.

North CarolinaCivil ProcedureCivil RightsConstitutional
North Carolina Court of Appeals
Uncategorized

Doe v. Fulton — SAFE Child Act Revival Window Applies to School Board Sexual Abuse Claims; Ten-Year Repose Period in § 1-52(16) Limited to Latent Injuries

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The North Carolina Court of Appeals affirmed denial of a school board’s motion to dismiss a SAFE Child Act revival claim, holding that the ten-year repose period in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1-52(16) applies only to latent injuries (not sexual assault) and that governmental immunity is not established at the pleading stage when the record leaves an unexplained gap in insurance coverage for any year in which the alleged abuse occurred.

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