Carolina?Quick Take: North Carolina v. Branham shows that guilty pleas in North Carolina do not automatically preserve appellate rights, but certiorari may sometimes fill the gap.
The Court of Appeals held no statutory right existed to appeal a denied immunity motion after a guilty plea.
If you’re following ketogenic fasting, characterized by prolonged calorie and carbohydrate restriction, you may be unknowingly altering your body’s response to alcohol and potentially impacting DUI test results and associated criminal allegations of “drunk 
driving.”
While ketogenic fasting triggers autophagy, a natural cellular cleanup, it also indirectly influences glucose and cortisol levels, creating complex physiological interactions potentially relevant to impaired driving charges.
North Carolina’s concealed carry law may be on the verge of a historic change. Presently, you must still have a valid permit to carry a
concealed handgun. On July 29, 2025, the North Carolina Senate voted to override Governor Stein’s veto of Senate Bill 50, known as the “Freedom to Carry NC” act. In order for the law to go into effect, the NC House must also vote to override the veto by a three-fifths majority.
Until both chambers of the NC General Assembly vote to override the Governor’s veto, the existing concealed carry permit requirement remains in full force. As the law now stands, anyone who carries a concealed handgun in North Carolina without a valid permit or legal authority, is still subject to criminal prosecution.
If you are facing criminal charges, are under investigation in the Charlotte metro region, including Mecklenburg and Union County, and want more information about carrying a concealed weapon charges, contact Powers Law Firm for experienced, confidential guidance. TEXT or call now: 704-342-4357
I’d already had a rough day when I got the text from my wife sharing Fergie passed. 
“Dang,” was the only thing I could respond.
I was without words.
One of the most common questions criminal defense lawyers hear is, “Why am I still being charged if the alleged victim wants to drop 
the charges?”
It’s a fair question. If the person who called the police doesn’t want to go forward, why would the court system care? In North Carolina criminal court, the decision to prosecute does not belong to the victim.
Whether you’ve been charged with assault on a female, communicating threats, damage to property, affray, or a violation of a Domestic Violence Protective Order (DVPO), the State, not the complaining witness, decides whether the case moves forward or to drop charges.
Criminal defendants expect the legal system to deliver fairness. Our courts are designed to deliver legal compliance with the laws of the State of North Carolina, our state 
constitution, and the US Constitution, not necessarily fair results or what some facing criminal charges might believe is just or true “justice.”
A prosecutor can legally offer a favorable plea to one defendant while demanding jail time for another charged with a very similar offense. Absent obvious discrimination based on protected characteristics or clear constitutional violations, prosecutorial discretion is substantial.
Judges can sentence different defendants to vastly different outcomes based on judicial and sentencing philosophy, the timing of the case, or simply how the Court (the Judge) interprets the factual recitation. They, too, possess substantial discretion in entering a judgment and sentencing someone to jail or prison.
The 4th of July in North Carolina is a time for celebration. Families gather for cookouts, fireworks, and long weekends on the water. It 
is a tradition built around freedom, but every year it brings a familiar pattern to courtrooms across the state.
Fireworks tickets, alcohol-related charges involving underage possession, drunk driving, and boating accidents rise sharply in the days surrounding the 4th of July. Some of these cases involve honest mistakes. Others involve serious consequences.
Understanding what is legal and what is not in North Carolina can help prevent celebrations from turning into criminal investigations, arrests, or life-changing accidents.
There’s a persistent myth about criminal justice that criminal charges are straightforward, guilt is obvious, and if everyone simply did their job efficiently, cases would resolve in days rather than months or even years.
This illusion persists until someone finds themselves or a loved one on the receiving end of criminal charges or arrested for DWI.
Justice moves slowly by design. That isn’t dysfunction.
They didn’t show up all at once. A little around the temples after a run of back-to-back felony trials. A little more after a long, sleepless night waiting for a jury to come back on a case that could have gone either way. Years of courtroom advocacy and life as a lawyer will do that. So will running a firm.
Grey hair isn’t a metaphor. It’s evidence. It’s what happens when you practice law long enough to be responsible not just for your own caseload, but for other lawyers in the firm, other families, and the next generation trying to learn how to do this work the right way.
Carolina Criminal Defense & DUI Lawyer Updates