A man alleging excessive force by a Durham police officer will have his case considered by the North Carolina Court of Appeals next week. The case, which stretches back seven years, has not yet gone to trial. Officer Nicholas Schneider is accused of using a clothesline move to detain a drug suspect who claims he […]
John H. Tucker
Bio: John H. Tucker is a staff writer for INDY Week.Email: [email protected]: http://twitter.com/JH_Tucker
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Police officer sues sheriff’s deputy over dog bite
The plaintiff and defendant are unlikely foes. A Durham police officer is suing a Durham sheriff’s deputy. The officer’s charge: The deputy’s service dog attacked him. Deputy William Carson’s dog, Frisco, is a Belgian Malinois imported from Holland. The partners hold monthly training sessions to stay sharp. But according to Durham Police Officer Joshua Walsh, […]
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U.S. Supreme Court case tests balance between privacy and law enforcement
Ignorance of the law is no excuse.” It’s a legal maxim every criminal defendant should know. But should police officers be held to the same standard? This week in Washington, the U.S. Supreme Court sought to answer that question in Heien v. North Carolina, a case that tests Fourth Amendment protections against unconstitutional searches. At […]
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Court of Appeals: New trial for woman who claims sheriff’s office entrapped her
An opinion handed down today by the North Carolina Court of Appeals reversing a drug conviction sheds light on how courts must consider arguments for entrapment. Though the ruling springs from a Rowan County case, it could potentially be applied to a Durham drug case, currently up for appeal, in which a man argued he […]
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Another animal cruelty charge in Durham
Animal cruelty has been in the news lately. Last week, we published an article about a case, currently before the North Carolina Court of Appeals, in which a Durham woman was convicted of felony animal cruelty after stabbing a dog to death. (She claimed her act was in self-defense.) Yesterday The New York Times published […]
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Questions arise about a teen’s state of mind when he spoke to law enforcement
Statements made by a teenager who was shot by Durham police cannot be used at trial, a judge has ordered, because the 19-year-old was under the influence of a powerful painkiller when a law enforcement officer questioned him in the hospital. However, the Durham County District Attorney’s Office has appealed the judge’s order, saying the […]
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Durham woman fighting animal cruelty charges
One night nearly two years ago, Nesta Gerberding returned to her South Durham home after an evening out with her roommates: her boyfriend, Jack, and brother, Kevin. Also living in the house was an 18-month-old white pit bull named Tank. The group tossed some Burger King bags onto the kitchen table and walked into the […]
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Fourth Circuit judges to hear NC case about prison contraband
Should a contracted detention officer working for a privately owned prison be considered a high-ranking public official? Is such a detention officer in a decision-making or sensitive position? Those are the questions a panel of judges for the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals will consider this Friday in Richmond, VA, when they hear oral arguments […]
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A judge says people are acting like “idiots” and a melee erupts in Durham family court
It began as a straight-forward child custody trial. She claimed he abandoned their 3-year-old son. He claimed she withheld the boy from him. But as soon the mother, RiShawna Morrison, stepped down from the witness stand, all hell broke loose in a Durham County courtroom. “Now I’m gonna choose my words very carefully,” said District […]
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NC Supreme Court hears case debating sex offenders, social networking
The North Carolina Supreme Court today heard oral arguments from a pair of lawyers debating whether or not a Durham sex offender committed a crime when he logged onto Facebook under a pseudonym and praised Jesus. The man, Lester Packingham Jr., who had sexual intercourse with a 13-year-old when he was 21, had been prohibited […]
