North Carolina Criminal Law Blog

A 21-year-old man has been charged for his role in providing a 1.75 liter of Bacardi Dragon Berry before a fatal crash that killed a Raleigh high school student. The girl was riding in a car on Rainwater Road when the driver lost control of the car and struck a tree. The driver has been charged with DWI/DUI and other charges related to the fatal car accident.

According to the North Carolina Alcohol Law Enforcement agents, they believe that a 21-year-old man supplied the alcohol to the underage students at the a house party. He is charged with providing the drinks to the driver and the student killed in the crash along with two other counts of providing alcohol to two other girls who were not in the car at the time of collision.

A Wilmington basketball coach has been sued in civil court for damages stemming from the sexual assault of an autistic girl in 2008. The youth coach pled guilty to third-degree rape in New York and sexual assault in North Carolina of the then 16-year-old girl.

The coach was charged in New York because of a traveling trip from North Carolina to New York where law enforcement authorities said the coach raped the girl. He was sentenced to short prison sentences for the charges and he was released. According to records with the North Carolina Sex Offender Registry, the man currently lives in Wilmington.

Janelle Evans, a mother on the MTV show "Teen Mom 2," has been arrested for the second time in one week, according to local reports.

The North Carolina mother is accused of violating a domestic violence order of protection filed by a former roommate. The 20-year-old allegedly made harassing phone calls and threats to her old roommate. She was released on $1000 bond shortly following her arrest in Brunswick County, North Carolina.

A former Marine from North Carolina will be in federal court for sentencing after pleading guilty to exporting firearms without a license and traveling in foreign commerce to deal in firearms without a license. The federal charges for gun smuggling stem from an incident last year.

The man allegedly attempted to smuggle 63 pistols into the United Kingdom last year by transporting them in his luggage. Law enforcement authorities say that the North Carolina man disassembled the weapons to make them look like engineering samples, rather than lethal weapons. The illegal weapons were discovered in his stow away luggage

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has changed its definition of rape to include male victims. The definition, currently used to report crime statistics in the Uniform Crime Report, shows an important change to recognize male victims.

Advocates for victims of sexual abuse and rape say that the numbers reported by the Uniform Crime Report have previously underreported the number of rapes in this country by not including men as victims. The change reverses an 85-year-old definition of sex crime.

As residents return to work after ringing in the New Year holiday, it's important North Carolinians understand changes to the criminal laws that began around January 1. The most notable change involves changes to the teenage driving laws.

Teenage drivers will now be required to note all of their hours spent behind the wheel and provide the log to license officials prior to receiving their license. Teens with a learners permit must demonstrate proof of 60 hours logged before they can receive their novice license. A novice licensed driver must demonstrate an additional 12 hours to qualify for a full North Carolina license.

A North Carolina man has been charged with two theft crimes for allegedly stealing an Olympic torch used during the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. The 43-year-old man has been charged with felony larceny and obtaining property by false pretense.

The man was caught after tying to sell the Olympic torch for $200 to a pawn shop despite an estimated value of more than $15,000. The suspicious activity caught the attention of police who arrested the man. He has since been released in exchange of a promise to appear for his court hearing set for today in Asheville.

In Lincolnton, North Carolina, local law enforcement agencies teamed up to run the "16 Days of Christmas." The special operation started on December 5 with the goal of rounding up drug offenders throughout the area. During the 16 day period, 57 of the 99 offenders were arrested and charged with various drug crimes.

Some of the participating agencies included Lincolnton Police Department, North Carolina Probation and Parole, Gaston County Police Department and Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Office. All of the participating agencies worked together to arrest the "suspects wanted for various drug related offenses as a result of an undercover operation conducted by the Lincolnton Police Department's Criminal Investigation/Narcotics Division," WBTV reported.