A federal lawsuit challenges whether law-enforcement officers can use the odor of cannabis alone as probable cause for a search.
Michael Hewlett
Michael Hewlett is a courts and law reporter for The Assembly. He was previously a legal affairs reporter at the Winston-Salem Journal and has won two Henry Lee Weathers Freedom of Information Awards.
Posted inCourts & Justice
The Politics of a Prison-Release Settlement
As Roy Cooper runs for Senate, Republicans have seized on a 2021 settlement that compelled officials to reduce the prison population.
Posted inCourts & Justice
Detention Officers Denied Immunity in Orange County Jail Death
A federal appellate court ruled that two detention officers sued for their role in Maurice King’s death can go to trial.
Posted inPolitics & Government
The Innocence Commission Lives On in State Budget. The Name Does Not.
The latest state budget spares the N.C. Innocence Inquiry Commission from an attempt to abolish it.
Posted inCourts & Justice
Smells Like 4th Amendment
An attorney wants a do-over in a recent ruling that sidesteps whether the smell of alleged marijuana can justify searching someone’s vehicle.
Posted inCourts & Justice
Crowded N.C. Jails Grapple with Iryna’s Law
Some law enforcement officials and district attorneys say the law has put strain on local jails without providing more resources.
Posted inCourts & Justice
Possible Settlement in eCourts Lawsuit
People who said they were wrongfully detained due to problems with the digital records system filed a class-action lawsuit three years ago.
Posted inCourts & Justice
Air Apparent?
The state Supreme Court weighs in on cases involving whether police can search based on what they believe to be the smell of marijuana.
Posted inCourts & Justice
How Growing Up in Smithfield Shaped Harmeet Dhillon
The high-ranking DOJ lawyer was reared in the 1970s as an outsider—an Indian Sikh girl in a town with a Ku Klux Klan billboard.
Posted inCourts & Justice
DeCarlos Brown Again Found Mentally Incompetent to Stand Trial
The man accused of killing a Ukrainian refugee on a Charlotte light rail train has been found mentally incompetent to stand trial for a second time. Prosecutors and defense attorneys said that the case has not ended.
