With the continued rise of social media platforms and the increased prevalence of smart phones, courts are presented with the conundrum of interpreting the legal import of emojis, or small digital images that express an idea without the use of alphabetical characters. The written expressions of a litigant or witness to a case provide valuable evidence; however, in the case of emojis, the meaning of those expressions can become convoluted. For example, courts have found that emojis can be interpreted to mean: a contract was formed; an individual was communicating a threat; or the communicant possessed guilty knowledge. The North Carolina Rules of Evidence, similar to all other states,…
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N.C. Court of Appeals: Caveators Were Not Prejudiced By Dead Man’s Statute Since the Jury “heard the gist of caveators’ evidence.”
In 1960 Charles Pickelsimer (“Charles”) inherited significant stock holdings in a family telecommunications company.[1] Over the next 45 years, Charles gave his children and grandchildren stock certificates as gifts. When he sold the company in 2008 for $65 million, Charles and his children received significant cash distributions. In 2009, Charles and his wife executed an estate plan to protect their assets, and their children were the primary beneficiaries. Charles was diagnosed with mild dementia and memory loss in January 2010, and his wife died in March of that year. His condition continued to subsequently decline. Charles executed a new estate plan in August 2010 (“2010…
