Motion to suppress evidence; whether a police dog's instinctive and undirected action that brings evidence not otherwise in plain view into plain view constitutes a search within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment or Article I, Section 20 of the North Carolina Constitution

Whether the Court of Appeals erred in reversing a lower court order holding defendant-attorney in criminal contempt of court; whether the order was fatally deficient under N.C.G.S. 5A-15

Felony sentencing for a crime committed in North Carolina; whether the State proved that a prior offense for which defendant was convicted in Tennessee was substantially similar to a North Carolina offense for purposes of assigning defendant a sentencing point based on his prior record level under N.C.G.S. 15A-1340.14(e).

Whether denial of defendant's good character evidence proffered under Rule 404(a) was prejudicial error; whether the trial court erred in using the term victim to instruct the jury, in conformity with the Pattern Jury Instructions

Whether a co-guarantor on a business loan waived any rights under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act when she executed a waiver of all claims in exchange for the lender's agreement to forbear from collecting the past-due debt

Appeal from order granting rate increase to electric power company

Negligence action for a fall on the steps of a county office building; denial of summary judgment for County claiming governmental immunity defense

Borrowers' suit against lender that refinanced their home mortgage loan; summary judgment in favor of lender; whether a question of fact arose regarding the possible existence of a fiduciary relationship between borrowers and lender sufficient to support claims based on negligent misrepresentation and breach of fiduciary duty

Action under the Uniform Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act; whether the Full Faith and Credit Clause precludes the use of certain Rule 60(b) grounds to defeat enforcement of a foreign judgment in this state

Whether the Court of Appeals properly granted defendant's petition for habeas corpus because he was charged under a defective indictment for felonious failure to appear on a felony charge

Adoption proceeding; whether N.C.G.S. ? 48-3-601, as applied here to bar a putative father from being able to withhold his consent for the adoption, violates the father's constitutional due process rights

Action for declaratory judgment and injunctive relief challenging town ordinances regulating towing of vehicles from private lots and banning mobile telephone use by all persons while driving a motor vehicle

Workers? Compensation; whether a previously injured worker who can now perform the duties of his former job with minor restrictions is disabled under N.C.G.S. ? 97-2(9) because he is unable to obtain employment due to the economic downturn in his industry and not because of his injury

Appeal from order granting rate increase to electric power company

Whether the trial court erred in sentencing defendant in the aggravated range because the evidence supporting the aggravating factor was the same evidence necessary to support an element of the underlying offense

Whether the trial court abused its discretion in revoking defendant's probation and reactivating his sentences based solely on hearsay testimony from defendant's probation officer

Appeal by defendant from trial court's judgment revoking his probation; whether defendant could challenge the validity of his underlying conviction in his appeal from the judgment revoking probation

Plain error review of convictions for multiple sexual offenses with a child; whether the trial court erred in using the term victim to instruct the jury, in conformity with the Pattern Jury Instructions