Please see the latest update to our “Case Summaries” (previously “Case Notes”) list in the Materials for Defenders page. We have most recently added a “Sex Offenses” section and copied opinions from other sections on previous cases pertaining to this subject for your convenience! The latest case in this category was the published opinion In the Matter of S.A.A., which established that:
(1) The State must provide sufficient evidence that the juvenile touched someone for the purpose of sexual gratification, sexual arousal, or sexual abuse in order to adjudicate him on the charge of sexual battery.
(2) The juvenile must move to dismiss at the close of all evidence in order to properly preserve the argument.
Additionally, there has also been a new published opinion on State v. Saldierna, after the N.C. Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeals decision which held that the trial court erred by denying the juvenile’s motion to suppress his incriminating statements. Justice Beasley’s dissent has been included with this new update as well.