NorthCarolinaLaw

www.edelsteinpayne.com Speeding Ticket reduced, Failure to Appear Stricken October 2017 Not something I would normally feel the urge to publicize, but there is a need for lawyers to handle traffic matters and I do that.  I did so yesterday for a woman who had missed her court date, incurring a $250 FTA fine in addition to the penalties of a 78 in a 55 speeding ticket.  She had filed her own motion asking to strike the failure to appear and for a new court date, but the motion was denied. I negotiated a "9 over" speeding violation, and successfully requested that the court  waive or strike the FTA. The result is a good one, because the original ticket would have resulted in a license revocation because it was more than 15 mph over the speed limit that was 55 or greater. So, I handle Wake County traffic matters, ranging from DWI, Driving While License Revoked, Reckless Driving, Speeding to Elude, to simple Speeding Tickets. Give me a call if you w...

www.edelsteinpayne.com Wake County Domestic Violence Case Dismissed September 2017 Domestic Violence (DV) cases are difficult for everyone. Prosecutors often have trouble determining issues such as self-defense, and in the domestic context there is almost always more to the story. I have won acquittals in several jury trials on Domestic Violence allegations, successfully arguing on one occasion that the complaining witness was biased and couldn't keep her story straight, and on another occasion that the arrest was based upon a misunderstanding by the arresting officer. More common than trial wins, though, are cases where the necessary witness/alleged victim for whatever reason decides not to come to court in support of the charges. Without admissible testimony, there is no way for prosecutors to prove any criminal charge- in most cases the only witness besides the alleged victim is the responding officer, who usually did not witness any act of violence. If the...

https://edelsteinpayne.com/criminal-defense Sexual Abuse is, Among Other Things, a Personal Injury Originally Posted by Sean Cecil Nov 27, 2017 The news lately is full of women coming forward to explain that they have been the victim of sexual abuse. Largely involving prominent men in positions of power enabling them to intimidate, coerce, or cover up their actions, these high profile stories have emerged in a variety of contexts often involving entertainment and politics. Some effort has been made, at least in social media, to clarify that these stories are common involving less prominent men as well. They happen in employment. They happen at schools. They happen at churches. At sporting events. And, as detailed in a Buzzfeed investigative report, strip mall massage parlors.  If you have been the victim of a sexual assault, whether in the workplace or elsewhere, you have rights. A sexual (or any other) assault is a form of personal injury, and basical...

https://edelsteinpayne.com/criminal-defense NC Court of Appeals Confirms No Duty to Retreat Prior to Self-Defense Originally Posted by Sean Cecil Jun 07, 2017 (0 Comments) North Carolina law does not require retreat before use of self-defense. "Perfect" self-defense is a defense against criminal charges; "imperfect" may be used as a mitigating factor in sentencing. Perfect self-defense requires all four of the following elements: (1) It appeared to defendant and he believed it to be necessary to use force to save himself from harm;  (2) Defendant's belief was reasonable in that the circumstances as they appeared to him at the time were sufficient to create such a belief in the mind of a person of ordinary firmness; (3) Defendant was not the aggressor in bringing on the affray, i.e., he did not aggressively and willingly enter into the fight without legal excuse or provocation; and (4) Defendant did not use excessive force.  Imperfect sel...

https://edelsteinpayne.com/personal-injury A City's Duty to Maintain Streets and Sidewalks in North Carolina Originally Posted by Sean Cecil Jul 01, 2016 (0 Comments) Yesterday I read an  article   about a recent appellate decision in Washington State, confirming the City of Port Orchard's liability for a bike accident allegedly caused by defective maintenance of a city street. I am licensed in Washington (currently inactive) spent the formative years of my legal career, and keep up with interesting legal developments there. The article, which described the city's liability as previously unresolved, piqued my curiosity regarding such issues here in North Carolina. I am pleased to report that it appears cities in North Carolina also can be liable for injuries that result from negligent maintenance of city roads and sidewalks. (It should be noted, however, that roads and sidewalks maintained by the state Dept. of Transportation are likely protected by state sover...

https://edelsteinpayne.com/personal-injury NC State is Studying Efforts to Reduce Pedestrian Casualties Originally Posted by Sean Cecil Jun 17, 2016  (0 Comments) In an effort to reduce the number of pedestrians hit by cars, NC State is working on a study to determine how best to increase driver awareness of pedestrian and bicycle safety. According to an  article  in yesterday's News & Observer, the study is intended to focus on education and enforcement as "factors that might influence driver behaviors so that they actively yield at pedestrians at crosswalks..." According to the article, 2,400 pedestrians are hit by cars each year in North Carolina. Of the 244 such collisions in Raleigh between 2000-2015, nearly half of them were fatal. It is the law in North Carolina that pedestrians have the right of way, though they are required to look both ways before crossing a highway without crosswalks or "hash marks" indicating a crossing.  Our ...

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...

New Overtime Rules Published! Posted by  Sean Cecil  |  May 19, 2016  |  0 Comments More pay for more work. It's a simple premise that may have been taken for granted at some point, but in the past couple decades has been somewhat eroded by past administrations' failure to update the overtime rules under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Under FLSA, employers can deem some salaried workers exempt from overtime if they fulfill certain duties and are paid at least a certain amount. Up until now, that amount has been $455/week, roughly $23,000.00 a year, not a living wage in many American cities. However, the rule has changed, and as of December 1, 2016, employers must pay their salaried workers $913/week to lawfully exempt them from overtime (The overtime rate of pay is 1.5 times their regular rate of pay for each hour worked over 40 in a week).  According to the Department of Labor's May 18, 2016 press release, key provisions of the fina...