Category: Criminal Law

Under 21 DWI in NC

9/8/2019

The Blood Alcohol Concentration or “BAC” limit for drivers under 21 in North Carolina is 0.00. This “zero tolerance” for underage drinking and driving is deterrence to the extreme. To further this end, a conviction of “driving after consuming” under NCGS 138.3 will result in a one year license revocation just like a DWI. This means a 20 year old who only had 1 sip of beer and blew a 0.01 can lose his or her license for a year. If the underage driver is suspected of being impaired they will also be charged with DWI as well.

DWI vs Driving after Consuming in NC

The "Driving after Consuming" charge only applies to those under age 21, and does not require any actual impairment due to alcohol. In fact any BAC above 0.01 can result in the charge. Someone under age 21 can be charged with both DWI and driving after consuming if they were in fact impaired. A DWI charge is basically automatic for a BAC of 0.08 or above. Each charge for first time offenders is a misdemeanor with similar consequences despite DWI having its own special sentencing guidelines.

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Is Marijuana legal in NC?

5/1/2019

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Updated 9/1/2019

Marijuana or “weed” is not currently legal to grow or possess in North Carolina. Many people seem to be confused about this with CBD oil signs and Hemp stores seeming to proliferate much like video gambling arcades. There are currently 10 states that have decriminalized possession of marijuana in some form (medicinal and/or recreational) in addition to Washington, DC with that number seeming to rise every year and likely to continue to do so going forward.

Although currently illegal, North Carolina seems to propose legislation to make weed legal on an annual basis. The latest attempt is NC Senate Bill 58 that would decriminalize possession of up to 3 ounces of marijuana for personal use. Those convicted in the past would even be eligible to go back and have their record expunged. WSOC TV 9 in Charlotte recently did an interview with NC House Bill 766 legislature sponsors who spoke of the need to unclog the jails with people charged with possession of small amounts of marijuana.

Is Marijuana legal under federal law?

Even though several states including Washington. DC have decriminalized marijuana in some capacity it is still technically illegal under federal law. At the moment the federal government appears to see the writing on the wall and is simply choosing to not interfere with states that have chosen to decriminalize personal use. Because of long standing federal law that could be enforced at any moment many banks refuse to work with pot dispensaries and hence most operate as a cash only business. In fact there is actually bipartisan support for the Strengthening the Tenth Amendment Through Entrusting States (STATES) Act which would essentially allow states to decide the fact of marijuana within their borders. Both President Trump and Attorney General William Barr have signaled support for the legislation. Passage of this may embolden many states to act that were hesitant to openly defy federal law.

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NC Raise the Age Law

1/3/2019

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Effective December 1, 2019 the legal age to be charged as an adult for many crimes will be raised to age 18 years of age in North Carolina. The Juvenile Justice Reinvestment Act essentially brings NC in line with the rest of the country as treating most 16 and 17 year olds as juveniles for criminal prosecution purposes. There are of course some major exceptions such as for traffic violations and serious felonies. Although the law still needs to be amended to fix some potential pitfalls this is a major victory for equal justice as NC was essentially putting its own juveniles at a competitive disadvantage by exposing them to adult criminal records for minor offenses such as larceny, trespassing, alcohol offenses, and simple possession of drugs.

What are the expected benefits of the raise the age law?

Cost savings
Reduce recidivism
Encourage juvenile employment
Involve parents in the process
Consistency with laws across the country
Provide delinquent juveniles with treatment
Treat kids differently than adults

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New Expungement Law in NC

8/1/2017

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Updated 9/8/2019

Governor Roy Cooper recently signed a new expungement law that went into effect on December 1, 2017. The main change is a reduction in the wait period to expunge non-violent misdemeanor and felony convictions. A primary goal of Senate Bill 445, which was a bipartisan effort, is allowing more people to clear their criminal record faster. The hope is 2 million North Carolina residents with criminal records will be able to get jobs after they have paid their debt to society.

As part of the same initiative, House Bill 280, which goes into effect on December, 1 2019, raises the minimum age to be charged as an adult to age 18 for most non-violent offenses. North Carolina is one of the last holdouts that currently charges 16 year old children as adults for any and all criminal offenses.

New Expunction law changes in NC effective December 2017

Misdemeanor convictions wait period reduced from 15 years to 5 years.
Felony convictions wait period reduced from 15 years to 10 years.
No more limit on number of dismissals than can be expunged.
Prosecutors and law enforcement will have access to records.

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Permanent License Revocation in NC

3/4/2017

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If you have been told your license is permanently revoked in North Carolina the situation may seem hopeless. The easy solution many reach is to just keep driving without a license- this is usually a huge mistake and makes a fixable situation that much worse! Even a permanent revocation is not really permanent- it usually just means you have to wait 3 years to get a hearing to restore your license. That being said there may be hope in the form of a Limited Driving Privilege "LDP" or by going back and re-opening old cases via a Motion for Appropriate Relief "MAR".

Before undertaking any license restoration on your own it is advisable to at least speak with an attorney to determine the best path to success as paying off old tickets can often restart the 3 year window to get a DMV hearing. The last thing anyone you need is to risk going to jail for driving while license revoked simply because you had no other way to get to work.