North Carolina Lawyers Weekly
In the affidavit supporting his application for a warrant to search defendant’s home, a police officer relayed information gleaned from his face-to-face interview with a witness, Rynesha Green, who described her own actions in driving defendant to and from the locations of vehicle break-ins and thefts as well as her presence when defendant used stolen credit cards to make purchases. Defendant points to no discernable requirement, by statute or common law, that requires an affiant to precisely identify the crimes an informant has incriminated themselves in before a magistrate can consider the statement to be against one’s own penal interests. In giving her statements implicating defendant, Green provided inculpatory information against her own penal interests and reasonably established her own credibility and reliability as an informant. Thus, Green’s information was sufficiently credible to support the search warrant application affidavit.
We affirm the trial court’s denial of defendant’s motion to suppress.
In the context of accepting a plea offer, defendant gave notice of appeal of the trial court’s denial of his motion to suppress. However, that plea deal fell through, and defendant accepted a second plea deal without again giving notice of appeal of the trial court’s denial of his motion to suppress. The burden is on defendant to show the record reflects a clear reservation of his right to appeal the motion to suppress and notice of appeal from the final judgment entered against him. It is not clear from the record that defendant met either of these requirements, and his failure to do so divests this court of jurisdiction to hear his direct appeal. Nevertheless, we grant defendant’s petition for a writ of certiorari.
State v. Martin (Lawyers Weekly No. 012-031-23, 17 pp.) (Fred Gore, J.) Appealed from Caswell County Superior Court (Stanley Allen, J.) Danielle Blass for defendant; Tirrill Moore for the state. N.C. App. Unpub.
