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At Marcilliat & Mills PLLC, our skilled Raleigh criminal defense attorneys understand that the only thing more intimidating than being charged with a state crime in North Carolina is being charged with a federal crime. Our experienced team of Wake County defense lawyers knows the differences between state and federal charges are complicated — even to those who…

At Marcilliat & Mills PLLC, our skilled attorneys have decades of experience handling sexual assault cases and know that a false allegation is something no one can prepare for. There are many situations and circumstances that can lead to this devastating result, including consensual contact that is later mischaracterized as sexual assault, mistaken identity…

Anti-abortion believers have been fighting Roe v. Wade since it was decided nearly 50 years ago. We all have our own opinions, but the Supreme Court has held to the Roe ruling primarily to provide a stable legal framework in which people can make rational decisions. They rely on the doctrine of “stare decisis,” which obligates the court…

Faith Hedgepeth, a 19-year-old sophomore at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, was found beaten to death and possibly raped in September 2012. She was found naked from the waist down, propped against her bed in a pool of blood. A note saying “I’m not stupid b—– jealous” was discovered nearby. Now, police say…

Human remains found in an undeveloped camping area near Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming are those of Gabby Petito, a 22-year-old woman from New York. Petito left in July on a cross-country van camping trip with her boyfriend, 23-year-old Brian Laundrie. The couple was later seen fighting and police separated them for a…

It’s unconstitutional to make it harder for people of a certain race to vote, even when the intention was partisan instead of racist, a North Carolina superior court has found. That means that a voter ID law that Republicans pushed through in 2018 is unconstitutional. A 2-1 majority of the court made clear that…

Too bad, officer. If your drug dog isn’t handy, you can’t keep the driver waiting. According to Julian Hattem with the Hill, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled yesterday that officers cannot keep someone waiting or detained – absent probable cause after the officer has already dealt with the original issue, such as having issued…

Johnny Autry Jr., 44, died at Pamlico Correctional Institution in January under suspicious circumstances. In a report, a pathologist at East Carolina University said it was a methamphetamine overdose. His family isn’t so sure. True, Johnny was at Pamlico after a drug conviction. And, the prison said that he was seen “smoking something” before…

The state of North Carolina has taken another big step towards improving its criminal justice system. Governor Roy Cooper recently signed a bill into law that raised the minimum age of prosecution for children from six to eight. However, the change falls short of raising the minimum age of prosecution to 10, as was initially proposed….

Governor Roy Cooper has signed four bills into law after receiving recommendations from his Task Force for Racial Equality in Criminal Justice (TREC). “We have seen that the criminal justice system doesn’t always treat everyone the same – and too often the differences are disproportionately felt by people of color,” he told reporters. “This legislation…