Trafficking in methamphetamine; right to silence; comment on defendant's silence; affirmative defense of duress; prior notice to State; State's case in chief.

Motion to Suppress, Motion to Dismiss, Freedom of Travel, Equal Protection, Valid Programmatic Purpose

indecent liberties, statutory sex offense, specific intent, voluntary intoxication, failure to testify, right to remain silent

PWC, civil judgment for attorney fees

renewal of default judgment; sum certain; void judgment

service of process; trial court discretion to extend time for service; dormant summons; alias or pluries summons

Arbitration
Interlocutory Appeal
Attorney's Fees

Child custody, change of circumstances

Whether a contract's liquidated damages provision created a genuine issue of material fact, thereby precluding summary judgment for plaintiff and whether the contract with plaintiff was in violation of defendant's charter and the statutes governing its operation and is therefore null and void.

Whether the General Assembly intended to exempt by implication the Teachers' and State Employees' Retirement System's Board of Trustees from rulemaking requirements under the Administrative Procedure Act, N.C.G.S. 150B, in adopting a Contribution-Based Benefit Cap pursuant to N.C.G.S. 135- 5(a3).

Whether the General Assembly intended to exempt by implication the Teachers' and State Employees' Retirement System's Board of Trustees from rulemaking requirements pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act, N.C.G.S. 150B, in adopting a Contribution-Based Benefit Cap pursuant to N.C.G.S. 135-5(a3).

Appeal from an order terminating respondent's parental rights under N.C.G.S. 7B-1111(a)(7); willful abandonment.

Appointment of a guardian ad litem pursuant to N.C.G.S. 7B-1108; whether the trial court abused its discretion in determining the best interests of the child.

Termination of parental rights; whether the trial court erred by concluding respondent willfully abandoned his child where respondent attended visitations with the child after the petition was filed; whether the trial court abused its discretion in determining the child's best interest.

Appeal from an order terminating respondent's parental rights pursuant to N.C.G.S. 7B-1111(a)(1); neglect.

Appeal from an order terminating parental rights pursuant to N.C.G.S. 7B-1111(a)(1) and (2); whether the trial court's adjudicatory findings of fact were supported by clear, cogent and convincing evidence; and whether those findings were sufficient to support the trial court's conclusion of law that grounds existed to terminate respondent's parental rights on the basis of neglect based upon a prior adjudication of neglect and a likelihood of repetition of neglect.

Appeal from an order terminating parental rights under N.C.G.S. 7B-1111(a)(1) and (2); whether the trial court issued sufficient findings of fact regarding progress leading up to the termination hearing to support its ultimate findings of fact and conclusions of law that grounds existed to terminate parental rights; whether the trial court abused its discretion in terminating parental rights.

Whether payments made pursuant to an agreement between the Attorney General's Office and major hog producers constitute 'penalties' subject to article IX, section 7 of the North Carolina Constitution.

Conditional Use Permits; Whether the City of Asheville properly denied a developer's application for a conditional use permit to build a hotel in downtown Asheville; Whether a local government may independently assess an application for a conditional use permit and make findings of fact that support denying that permit when no one offers evidence in opposition to that permit or, alternatively, whether a developer is automatically entitled to the issuance of a conditional use permit when no one presents evidence in opposition to the permit.