Legal Question in Criminal Law in North Carolina

In June of 2015 my son died of a heroin overdose. The man who supplied it was arrested in June 2016 with 47 grams of Hermione and $2000 on his person.

He is currently incarcerated.

Can he be charged for delivering a drug resulting in death?


Asked on 9/08/16, 3:28 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Yes. In North Carolina it is possible to be charged with various crimes up to and including murder charges for illegally supplying drugs to someone who overdoses on the drugs. The concept of the dealer being responsible for the overdose victims death is basically a made up legal construct akin to the felony murder rule which states that if someone dies due to the commission of a felony (the supplying of the drugs) then the person(s) guilty of that felony are also guilty of murder by virtue of committing the felony that caused the death. However, these charges are not brought often or if they are they fall through because unless the dealer is very sloppy and / or stupid it would be extremely difficult to prove. Most drug dealers do not keep records of their transactions and are very secretive about their deals and clientele, so generally some other form(s) of evidence would be needed to sufficiently connect a specific dealer with the person who overdosed such that a murder conviction is merited.

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Answered on 9/08/16, 4:07 pm


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