Do police need a warrant to search your car?
Most people know that law enforcement officers can’t just come to your home and start looking around for evidence of a crime. They typically need permission to come in and look around or a search warrant that specifies what areas they can search and what they can...
Is OxyContin illegal?
North Carolinians know all too well the toll that the opioid epidemic has taken on many parts of the country. Perhaps the drug most synonymous with this epidemic is OxyContin. This powerful and highly addictive prescription painkiller rapidly became recklessly...
4 common myths about driving under the influence
Driving under the influence of alcohol or a substance puts the safety of the public in jeopardy. While many laws prohibit drinking under the influence, and many tests evaluate people's blood alcohol content (BAC), that doesn't stop many people from thinking they can...
How chain of custody errors could affect your criminal case
Chain of custody refers to how law enforcement officers handle items of evidence during an investigation. When the police fail to follow proper procedures when dealing with evidence, it could give rise to chain of custody errors. The possibility that the evidence...
Should you just pay off your traffic ticket?
When you get a traffic ticket, you can either pay it off or contest it in court. For most people, paying off a traffic ticket seems like the easy way out. After all, you will avoid the inconveniences of court dates and move on with your life. However, your decision...
Understanding North Carolina’s ignition interlock requirements
If a North Carolina resident is convicted of DUI/DWI for the second or subsequent time or even for the first time if they’re found to have a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .15% or higher, they most likely won’t be able to drive legally for a time without an...
Are DUI checkpoints legal?
Fall is here and that means football games, haunted hayrides and harvest festival season are underway. This means that the police will be setting up sobriety checkpoints throughout the country. Their aim is to identify impaired drivers in order to keep the roadways...
What are blood alcohol tests and field sobriety tests?
Imagine this – you were out drinking with friends and had a few light beers. You didn’t think you were that drunk and, against your friend's better judgment, decided to drive home. On your way home, an officer saw you drifting and speeding past a red light, this...
You can’t lie to the police, but can they lie to you?
There are plenty of situations in which you cannot lie to the police. They could charge you with obstruction of justice in some cases, for instance. If they ask you to identify yourself during a traffic stop, you're legally obligated to do so. You cannot give them a...
Understanding the concept of probable cause for a DWI stop
Operating a motor vehicle while drunk is an offense punishable by fines, suspension of your driver’s license and jail time among other penalties. However, law enforcement cannot just stop and charged you for drunk driving without cause. Law enforcement must have...