While the law may seem old and static, it is quite dynamic. As part of our state’s “Common Law” jurisprudence (theory or philosophy of law), cases build on each other over time. As a result, the law continuously evolves to compensate for changes in society, technology, and the like. While no two cases are the same, there is often...
Continue ReadingI am available for pro bono representation of demonstrators in Raleigh and Durham. Call me at (919) 899-9404 or email at bh@hiltzheimer.com. I’ll talk for a minute about why. I understand that businesses are devastated by the damage that’s been done in an already painful time, but I also recognize the importance of the words of Dr. King who...
Continue ReadingNHTSA, or the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, is a pro-law enforcement national agency that develops the standards for DWI investigations in North Carolina and nationwide. As a result, NHTSA is known for extreme bias and sloppy pseudoscience in its reporting of the effects of alcohol. One classic example is the “standard battery of field sobriety tests,” which cops...
Continue ReadingThe Setup I can’t count the number of police reports I’ve read that start with a routine traffic stop for speeding, at some classic Raleigh Police speed trap like Glenwood Avenue by the Carolina Country Club or south of downtown on S. Dawson Street, and then it all escalates into a DWI investigation because the cop-on-duty “detects an odor...
Continue ReadingEventually North Carolina will catch up with the more enlightened states where the dark age of marijuana prohibition has come to a close, but until that day, we have entered a new frontier with respect to your rights as a citizen when you are suspected of marijuana-related crimes. Why? Because the government and its uniformed foot soldiers can no...
Continue ReadingThe Klan announced a “victory parade” at the news that Donald Trump would be the next president of the United States. After all, Trump gave the rhetoric of hate a home at the center of his campaign. He made blanket statements describing Mexicans as “rapists,” and described Mexico itself as “our enemy.” Trump refused to condemn David Duke, America’s...
Continue Reading* According to Washington Governor Jay Inslee, in a hyperbolic defense of his state’s imposition of a new law that gives the police yet another reason to intrude on your ability to travel freely without interference by law enforcement. They’re calling it “E-DUI” — driving under the influence of electronic devices. Meanwhile in every city in America: It will...
Continue ReadingAs we celebrate this symbolic day in the land of the free, pay no attention to fact that the Raleigh Police set up a DWI checkpoint on Saturday night in which every single driver was stopped and interrogated by the long arm of your local government without suspicion of any wrongdoing. Twelve people were arrested for DWIs, despite, presumably,...
Continue ReadingA Colorado judge issued an order barring the use of breath test evidence in cases originating from July 2015 to the present, following a hearing requested by defense attorney Danny Luneau on behalf of a client. Luneau established at the hearing that the calibration records of breath test instruments in the county had been falsified by state employees seeking...
Continue ReadingThe NC Court of Appeals issued an opinion in State v. Scaturro (PDF) on Tuesday that clarified an important point relating to the obligations of an individual involved in a car crash pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 20-166. Scaturro was a case in which the defendant struck a boy on a bicycle with his vehicle, after the boy made a change of...
Continue Reading