North Carolina Case Summaries
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North Carolina

North CarolinaAppellate ProcedureCivil ProcedureFamily Law
North Carolina Court of Appeals
Uncategorized

Parente — Custody relocation order needed findings tied to the child

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The Court of Appeals remanded for additional findings. A substantial change in circumstances must affect the child, and a relocation decision requires findings that permit review of advantages, parental motives, compliance with visitation, and the practicality of preserving the other parent’s relationship. The order supplied a visitation schedule but did not explain the claimed educational benefit, the child’s relationship with the stepfather, or

North CarolinaAdministrative LawEnvironmentalStatutory Interpretation
North Carolina Court of Appeals
Uncategorized

DEQ v. Rules Review Commission — Coastal rules required clearer standards

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The Court of Appeals affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded. It held that specifically challenged provisions using open-ended terms such as significant impacts did not provide adequate objective guidance and were unclear. The Rules Review Commission abandoned objections it failed to develop on appeal, but the trial court also erred by treating fourteen objections as beyond the Commission’s scope without determining which provisions met

North CarolinaCivil ProcedureEvidenceProperty Law
North Carolina Court of Appeals
Uncategorized

Moore — Christmas gift rules determined ownership of a dog

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The Court of Appeals affirmed the award of ownership to the woman. Evidence supported donative intent and delivery, and credibility findings belonged to the trial court. Physical delivery did not require the donor to avoid all later possession or care while the parties cohabited; continued shared contact with gifted property did not divest the recipient’s title.

North CarolinaCivil ProcedureEvidenceFamily Law
North Carolina Court of Appeals
Uncategorized

In re S.A. — Changed circumstances defeated grandparents’ termination petition

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The Court of Appeals affirmed. Past neglect may inform whether future neglect is likely, but it does not end the inquiry when the children are not in the parent’s custody. Clear, cogent, and convincing evidence supported positive changes and the district court’s determination that repetition of neglect was not sufficiently likely. An isolated positive THC test did not compel a different result in light of the broader record.

North CarolinaAppellate ProcedureEvidenceFamily Law
North Carolina Court of Appeals
Uncategorized

In re A.J. — Prior recusal did not invalidate a newly assigned judge’s neglect order

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The Court of Appeals affirmed. The prior recusal applied to the judge who had entered it and did not bar a different judge from hearing the remanded matter. Unchallenged and supported findings showed a living environment injurious to the children’s welfare, including repeated exposure to potentially harmful situations and failure to correct the conduct. Those findings supported adjudication of all three children as neglected.

North CarolinaAppellate ProcedureCivil ProcedureReal Estate
North Carolina Court of Appeals
Uncategorized

Alston — Attachment order did not justify an immediate appeal

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The Court of Appeals dismissed the defendants’ appeal as interlocutory. The attachment did not essentially shut down the defendants’ business, applied to a single North Carolina asset, allowed a sale so long as proceeds remained secured, and could be discharged by bond. Because the defendants did not identify an irreparable injury that would be lost before final judgment, the order did not affect a substantial right supporting immediate review.

North CarolinaAppellate ProcedureCriminalEvidence
North Carolina Court of Appeals
Uncategorized

Spencer — Evidence supported lying-in-wait and flight instructions

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The Court of Appeals found no error. The trial evidence supported an inference that Spencer knew the store and employee schedules, positioned himself for a private attack, and waited for the victims to leave. Evidence that he changed clothes, misled his girlfriend, and disposed of the weapon supported flight even though he later appeared near officers. The evidence also did not require a second-degree murder instruction.

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 CarolinaBanking & FinanceCivil ProcedureReal Estate
North Carolina Court of Appeals
Uncategorized

Perry — Mortgage plaintiffs cannot undo dismissal based on counsel’s disputed authority

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The Court of Appeals affirmed the denial of Rule 60 relief. The trial court investigated the circumstances, assessed credibility, considered the available Rule 60 grounds, and could find that the record did not establish a void judgment or extraordinary circumstances. The appellate court emphasized its deferential abuse-of-discretion review and declined to substitute its credibility judgment for the trial court’s.

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 CarolinaArbitrationBreach of ContractConstruction Law
North Carolina Court of Appeals
Uncategorized

Snipes Concrete — FAA requires enforcement of Michigan arbitration forum

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The published panel reversed and ordered enforcement of the agreed Michigan forum. Because the subcontract involved interstate commerce, the Federal Arbitration Act applied and preempted North Carolina’s contrary forum restriction. General equitable concerns and efficiency could not override the FAA’s command that arbitration agreements be enforced according to their terms.

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.

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