A unanimous three-judge panel of the N.C. Court of Appeals has rejected arguments from Grant Hayes, the Wake County man convicted in 2013 of first-degree murder in the death of Laura Ackerson, the mother of Hayes’ two children. You might remember this case from its grisly details. Authorities say Hayes and his wife killed Ackerson, dismembered her corpse, and disposed of the body parts in a Texas creek.

Among other opinions released this morning:

  • A unanimous three-judge panel affirmed a trial court’s dismissal of a lawsuit from the former Rowan County assistant register of deeds, who was fired in 2014 after announcing plans to run for office against her boss. Appellate judges ruled that a politically motivated firing is permissible in the case of an elected register of deeds and that person’s top assistant.