Supreme Court of North Carolina

The court held that the complaint adequately pleaded claims for breach of contract, fraud, unfair and deceptive trade practices, and defamation under North Carolina’s liberal notice-pleading standard.

The Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeals and held that the admission of the challenged expert testimony, even if improper vouching, was not plain error because the defendant failed to show that it probably affected the verdict.

The Court affirmed that Williams was entitled to a castle-doctrine jury instruction because he was inside his vehicle when the attack began, exited in response to the attack, and used deadly force while the assault continued.

The court held that replacing a sitting juror with an alternate after deliberations began was constitutional because the trial court excused the sitting juror first and instructed the reconstituted jury to begin deliberations anew.

The Court held that probable cause for a warrantless vehicle search must be assessed under the totality of the circumstances, with the odor of cannabis treated as one factor rather than an independently dispositive justification.

The court held that the State presented substantial evidence from which a jury could find that defendant constructively possessed the firearm found in an unlocked dresser in a shared bedroom.

The Court reversed the Court of Appeals and reinstated Moore’s first-degree kidnapping conviction. It held that, although restraints necessary to suffocate the victim were inherent in the murder, additional cables and zip ties that bound her to the bed and contorted her body constituted substantial evidence of an…

The court held that McGirt clearly and unequivocally elected to waive appointed counsel and represent himself based on his written waivers, statements, and overall course of conduct.

The Court affirmed the Court of Appeals’ discretionary decision to issue a writ of certiorari permitting defendant to pursue a belated direct appeal. It held that the second panel did not violate law-of-the-case principles because the first panel dismissed the petition without prejudice and the renewed petition…

The Court held that successive petitions to terminate sex-offender registration under the applicable statute are part of the same underlying proceeding and are governed by law of the case.

The Court held that defendant’s ineffective-assistance claims were procedurally barred because the claims were apparent from the direct-appeal record and defendant failed to raise them on direct appeal.

The Court held that the Habitual Felon Act does not prohibit filing a habitual-felon indictment before the indictment or commission of the principal felony, so the Court of Appeals improperly granted appropriate relief on that issue.

The court held that claims alleging ineffective assistance based on counsel's unconsented concession of guilt are generally governed by the two-part deficient-performance and prejudice inquiry, rather than an automatic presumption of prejudice.

The court held that personal goodwill tied to a professional practitioner cannot be classified as marital property in an equitable-distribution proceeding because it represents the practitioner's prospective earning capacity and cannot be distributed or transferred independently of the practitioner.

The court vacated the discovery order because the trial court committed two legal errors under the Rules of Civil Procedure. First, the trial court improperly treated objections to Rule 30(b)(5) document requests as untimely when they were served within the rule's seven-day deadline.

The Court held that the plaintiff’s complaint plausibly stated a constitutional claim against the school board for deliberate indifference to conduct that impaired her equal access to a sound basic education.

The Court held that failure to join a necessary party under Rule 19 does not deprive a court of subject matter jurisdiction and that the defendant's Rule 19 challenge was not waived in these circumstances.

The Supreme Court of North Carolina reversed the Court of Appeals' decision, which had overturned a trial court's termination of respondent-mother Lauren B.'s parental rights to her daughter B.O.A. under N.C.G.S.

The Court affirmed the termination of respondent mother's parental rights because the trial court's findings were supported by clear, cogent, and convincing evidence and established that she lacked the ability or willingness to provide Troy with a safe home.

The Court affirmed termination of the respondent-father's parental rights because clear, cogent, and convincing evidence supported willful abandonment, and the trial court did not abuse its discretion in finding termination to be in the children's best interests.

The Supreme Court of North Carolina held that the trial court made sufficient findings to terminate respondent’s parental rights based on neglect and failure to make reasonable progress correcting the conditions that led to removal.

The Supreme Court of North Carolina clarified the plain error standard of review for unpreserved instructional or evidentiary error, holding that a defendant must demonstrate fundamental error — prejudice shown by establishing that, after examination of the entire record, the error had a probable impact on the jury's…

The Supreme Court of North Carolina reversed the Court of Appeals and held that summary judgment was improper on both Variety Wholesalers' conversion claim and its constructive‑trust claim against Ark, because genuine issues of material fact remain regarding contractual intent, notice, and identification of the funds.

The court reversed the Court of Appeals and upheld the denial of defendant’s motion to suppress. It held that the unchallenged facts established probable cause to arrest defendant for drug possession, even though they might not have been sufficient to prove constructive possession beyond a reasonable doubt.

The Court held that a common-law negligence claim barred completely by governmental immunity is not an adequate remedy at state law. Because the negligence claim could not provide any possibility of relief, the plaintiff may pursue colorable direct claims under the North Carolina Constitution based on the same alleged…

The Supreme Court of North Carolina reversed a divided Court of Appeals decision affirming summary judgment that admitted the testator's September 2005 will to probate. Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the caveator of the later will, the court held that evidence of the terminally ill testator's…

The Supreme Court of North Carolina affirmed the Court of Appeals and upheld a trial court's pretrial dismissal, under N.C.G.S. § 15A-954(a)(4), of a felony assault charge against Theodore Jerry Williams.

The Supreme Court of North Carolina reversed the Court of Appeals' dismissal of White Oak Transport's appeal, which a divided Court of Appeals panel had dismissed for violations of appellate Rules 10(c)(1), 28(b)(4), and 28(b)(6).

The Supreme Court of North Carolina reviewed cross-motions for summary judgment in a fraud action brought by LaMarr Garland Forbis, executor of the estates of Bonnie Newell and Augusta Sustare, against their nephew Beverly Lee Neal, who had served as the sisters' attorney-in-fact under powers of attorney that…

The Court held that a juvenile petition alleging abuse, neglect, or dependency must be signed and verified as required by statute to invoke the trial court's subject matter jurisdiction.

The North Carolina Supreme Court affirmed Scott David Allen’s murder conviction and death sentence, finding no reversible error in the trial’s use of testimony, closing arguments, aggravating circumstances, victim‑impact statements, or proportionality review.

The Supreme Court of North Carolina held that the plaintiff's appeal had to be dismissed because the plaintiff violated mandatory appellate rules governing assignments of error and briefing.

The Supreme Court of North Carolina reversed the Court of Appeals and reinstated the State Personnel Commission's order restoring a demoted park ranger to his former position with back pay.

The court held that North Carolina has not adopted the federal Daubert standard and instead continues to apply its own three-part reliability, qualification, and relevance inquiry for expert testimony.

The Court held that judicial estoppel is part of North Carolina common law and adopted a flexible, equitable framework based on the factors ordinarily considered in deciding whether to apply the doctrine.

The Court held that the evidence did not establish, with the required degree of medical certainty, that the employee’s workplace leg injury caused her deep vein thrombosis. Both physicians acknowledged that the causal connection was only possible and could not be stated to a reasonable degree of medical certainty…

The court held that Durham County's use of the cost approach to value a low-income housing property was neither illegal nor arbitrary, because the property owner's rent restrictions were voluntary contractual terms exchanged for tax-credit benefits rather than governmental restrictions that necessarily reduced taxable…

The North Carolina Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeals, holding that the proper standard of review for a post‑verdict motion to dismiss for insufficiency of the evidence is the substantial‑evidence test articulated in State v.

The Supreme Court of North Carolina rejected defendant's challenges to his capital conviction and death sentence, holding that he was not 'in custody' during either police interview so that Miranda warnings were unnecessary, that both statements were voluntary, and that the warrantless seizure of his shoes was a valid…

The North Carolina Supreme Court held that the trial court had subject‑matter jurisdiction over the plaintiff’s negligence claim against Guilford County and that the public‑duty doctrine bars the claim because the County’s security services are analogous to police protection for the public.