NorthCarolinaLaw

https://edelsteinpayne.com/employment-law Forsythe County Superior Court Judge Orders City of Kernersville to Produce Personnel Documents for our Client Originally Posted by Sean Cecil May 19, 2016  (0 Comments) On Monday, firm partner Travis Payne argued a mandamus petition in Forsythe County on behalf of our client, a Kernersville firefighter, who was fired and then denied access to unredacted copies of documents used to support his firing. Citing an important 2013 court case,  Wind vs. City of Gastonia  (for which he drafted an  amicus curiae  brief), Attorney Payne successfully argued that records related to our client's discipline is not subject to the disclosure exemptions for employment records. Although the final order is pending, the City has indicated an inclination to appeal the ruling. The City will also be required to provide the client with a new grievance hearing.   A writ of mandamus is a court order to a public offici...

https://edelsteinpayne.com/criminal-defense NC Criminal Law: Appellate Court Rules Search Warrant Invalid Originally Posted by Sean Cecil Jan 13, 2016 (0 Comments) The so-called "war on drugs" is an abject failure. I am particularly interested in defending crimes involving allegations of illegal possession, production, or distribution of controlled substances, especially criminal allegations regarding cannabis. That's one reason I am particularly enthusiastic about last week's ruling in  State v. Allman , in which the North Carolina Court of Appeals ruled that a search warrant for drugs was not valid because it was not supported by probable cause to believe there was drug activity at the residence indicated in the law enforcement application. The New Hanover County deputy sheriff (Bacon) who applied for the warrant knew that drug activity was occurring elsewhere, and extrapolated that information to obtain a warrant to search the home where the suspects liv...

edelsteinpayne.com Writ of Mandamus Obtained on Behalf of Statesville Firefighter Originally Posted by Sean Cecil Jan 11, 2016 (0 Comments) Last month, Edelstein Payne & Lucas partner Travis Payne and I traveled to Statesville, NC to appear in Iredell County Superior Court to petition the court for a writ of mandamus. A mandamus action in North Carolina is a petition for a court order requiring a governmental official to perform his or her non-discretionary official duties. Our client, a longtime member of the city's fire department, had applied for a promotion and underwent promotional processes. When he was not chosen for the promotion, he sought review of the decision to not promote him, as provided  in the City's Charter. He was denied a Civil Service Board review, despite several explicit requests, and was left with no choice but to petition the court for a writ of mandamus.  There are five "elements" which must be established by a party p...