North Carolina Criminal Law Updates

A DWI arrest in Hatteras can feel different from a charge in a larger city, even though North Carolina’s impaired driving law applies statewide. Hatteras is not just another dot on a map. Hatteras Village sits near the southwestern end of Hatteras Island, connected to the rest of the Outer Banks by NC 12 and to Ocracoke by the Hatteras...

If you are stopped and charged with a federal DUI in the Outer Banks, and the officer is not a North Carolina Highway Patrol trooper or county or local law enforcement officer, your case may be headed to federal court. Unlike most DWI charges in North Carolina, a federal DUI follows its own set of procedures, laws, and potential penalties. This can be confusing for both loca...

A DUI arrest while visiting North Carolina creates immediate legal problems that don’t disappear when your trip ends. Whether you were stopped after dinner in Duck or pulled over near your rental house in Kill Devil Hills, you’re now facing a criminal charge that could very well follow you home. 

North Carolina has some pretty harsh impaired driving laws. Make no...

When North Carolina prosecutors charge someone with attempting to commit a crime, rather than the completed offense itself, they undertake a burden of proof that most defendants don’t fully appreciate. The North Carolina Court of Appeals’ recent decision in State v. Vaughn, COA24-1089 (Nov. 19, 2025), demonstrates how the heightened standard operates in practic...