North Carolina Supreme Court Decisions 2023

Justia Opinion Summary: In the case of the State of North Carolina v. Russell William Tucker, the defendant argued that his conviction for first-degree murder and sentence of death should be overturned due to alleged discrimination in jury…

Justia Opinion Summary: In the case before the Supreme Court of North Carolina, the defendant, Jahzion Wilson, was charged with first-degree murder under the felony-murder theory, with the underlying felony being attempted robbery with a…

Justia Opinion Summary: In North Carolina, Melvin Woolard Jr. was arrested by Captain Rodney Sawyer for driving while impaired (DWI). Before his trial, Mr. Woolard filed a motion to suppress evidence seized during the arrest, arguing that the…

Justia Opinion Summary: In this case, the Supreme Court of North Carolina was asked to determine whether defendant Cassie Herring, who was injured in a car accident, qualifies for benefits under the underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage of her…

Justia Opinion Summary: In the case before the Supreme Court of North Carolina, the defendant, Darren O'Brien Lancaster, was charged with multiple offenses, including two counts of "going armed to the terror of the public." The charges stemmed…

Justia Opinion Summary: In April 2017, Isaiah Scott Beck, Daniel Silva, and Javier Holloway planned to rob a drug dealer in Boone, North Carolina. They initially did not have a specific target in mind. However, through a series of text…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court of North Carolina heard a case regarding a traffic checkpoint where the defendant, Alvarez, was stopped, searched, and found in possession of illegal drugs. He moved to suppress the evidence, arguing…

Justia Opinion Summary: A minor, Freedom Morris, sought emergency treatment for appendicitis at Vidant Medical Center and was operated on by Dr. David Rodeberg. Despite complaining of severe pain after the surgery, Morris was discharged. He…

Justia Opinion Summary: In this case, the Plaintiff, Paul Steven Wynn, had sued Rex Frederick, in his official capacity as a magistrate, and Great American Insurance Company for negligence. The Plaintiff claimed that Frederick was negligent in…

Justia Opinion Summary: In this case, the Supreme Court of North Carolina was tasked with interpreting N.C.G.S. § 14-208.12A, which allows for the removal of a registered sex offender from the North Carolina Sex Offender Registry ten years…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court of North Carolina was required to decide whether a trial court can refuse to hear oral testimony during a summary judgment hearing on the mistaken belief that the North Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the court of appeals affirming the trial court's entry of summary judgment in favor of the Town of Midland ordering Defendants to pay the Town a total of $97,400 in civil…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the trial court convicting Defendant, a former chorus teacher at a middle school, of first-degree rape and first-degree statutory sexual offense with a child, Ellen, a middle…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the trial court's denial of Defendant's motion to suppress and finding no error in her criminal trial, holding that the search for evidence in…

Justia Opinion Summary: In this appeal from the orders and opinions entered in December 2019, February 2020, May 2020, and April 2021 by the superior court after the case was designated a mandatory complex business case, the Supreme Court…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals reversing Defendant's second-degree murder conviction, holding that the evidence was sufficient to support a jury finding that Defendant was the aggressor…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the jury verdict that Defendant was guilty of the first-degree murder of a young child as well as of first-degree kidnapping, sexual offense with a child and felony child abuse inflicting…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the administrative law judge (ALJ) from the Office of Administrative Hearings affirming the decision of the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, Division of Water…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed a portion of the decision of the court of appeals upholding the trial court's ruling that Defendants' proffered evidence that speculatively imputed blame for the charged offenses to other…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals upholding Defendant's voluntary manslaughter conviction after determining that if the trail court erred in refusing to admit certain cell phone evidence the…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals reversing the judgment of the trial court entering an order removing reunification with Parents from the permanent plan as to their two children, holding…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals vacating an adjudication of J.U. for simple assault and battery, holding that the juvenile petition supported each element of misdemeanor sexual battery. …

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals vacating Defendant's conviction for possession of a firearm by a felon because the State failed to obtain a separate indictment for that offense under N.C.…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court vacated the opinion of the court of appeals reversing Defendant's conviction of drug-related charges arising out of an incident that occurred when law enforcement officers observed Defendant moving in…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court held that the court of appeals did not abuse its discretion by issuing a writ of certiorari in this case and that the issuance of the writ of certiorari was the only issue for which the dissent set out…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals and reinstated the opinion and award filed by the North Carolina Industrial Commission in favor of Plaintiff following a tractor-trailer accident in which…

Justia Opinion Summary: In this appeal from the business court judgment denying Defendant's motion for a protective order the Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the trial court did not abuse its discretion. Defendants - a corporate entity…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court dismissed for lack of personal jurisdiction a decision of the court of appeals affirming the order of the trial court dismissing Plaintiff's claims against Defendants for lack of personal jurisdiction,…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court modified the decision of the court of appeals affirming the denial of a petition to terminate Father's parental rights and clarified the correct standard of review at the adjudication and dispositional…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court held that, within the particular facts and overall context of this criminal case, the trial court did not violate either the United States Constitution or the North Carolina General Statutes by…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals vacating the orders of the trial court dismissing Mother's terminating MOther's parental rights, holding that the trial court did not err. After a hearing,…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court modified and affirmed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the judgment of the trial court in this termination of parental rights case, holding that any error was harmless. The trial court in…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the final order and judgment of the trial court in this case involving challenges to N.C. Gen. Stat. 13-1, the statute setting forth the criteria that felons must satisfy to be eligible for…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals holding that S.B. 824 violates N.C. Const. art. I, 19 and permanently enjoining that law, holding that S.B. 824 does not violate the protections set forth…

Justia Opinion Summary: In this case requiring a determination of Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC's scope of authority under an easement it acquired to create Lake Norman, the Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals reversing an…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court held that partisan gerrymandering claims present a political question that is nonjusticiable under the North Carolina Constitution, thus overruling the Court's decision in Harper I and affirming the…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals determining that provisions in the settlement agreement in this case were ambiguous, holding that the plain language of the settlement agreement was…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals determining that the trial court's findings of fact did not support its conclusion adjudicating Glenda a neglected juvenile, holding that the court of…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the trial court concluding that there was no violation of Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79 (1986), in the underlying proceedings, holding that the trial court's decision that…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part an order of the court of appeals in this jurisdictional dispute, holding that the Corporate Defendants intentionally reached out to North Carolina to conduct…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeals reversing the trial court's adjudications of nine-year-old Margaret as an abused and neglected juvenile and her two younger siblings as neglected juveniles,…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the trial court granting Defendants' motion for an award of attorneys' fees as part of their costs under N.C. R. Civ. P. 41(d) pursuant to N.C. Gen. Stat. 6-21.5 and the trial…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals vacating the judgment of the superior court sentencing Defendant at the Class B1 felony level in connection with his conviction of second-degree murder,…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals vacating the judgment of the superior court sentencing Defendant at the Class B1 felony level in connection with his conviction of second-degree murder,…