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Criminal Practice – Search & Seizure – Search Warrant – Defendant’s Person – Traffic Stop
Since a valid search warrant had been issued to search defendant’s person, an officer could conduct a traffic stop without violating the Fourth Amendment; the stop was initiated to effectuate service of the search warrant. We find no error in defendant’s convictions of one count of statutory sexual offense with a minor, one count of […]
Criminal Practice – Search & Seizure – Traffic Stop – Warrant for Home
State v. Allman (Lawyers Weekly No. 010-016-17, 11 pp.) (Mark Martin, C.J.) Appealed from New Hanover County Superior Court (Jack Jenkins, J.) On appeal from the Court of Appeals. N.C. S. Ct. Holding: Where an affidavit for a warrant to search defendant’s home related that (1) during a traffic stop of defendant’s housemates, police found […]
Criminal Practice – Search & Seizure – Warrant Application – Staleness – Counterfeit Bill
State v. Brown (Lawyers Weekly No. 011-208-16, 13 pp.) (Linda Stephens, J.) Appealed from Gaston County Superior Court (Jesse Caldwell III, J.) N.C. App. Holding: An officer’s affidavit in support of a search warrant application says only that, within the preceding 48 hours, the officer had spoken with a confidential informant who provided the officer […]
Criminal Practice – Search & Seizure – Traffic Stop – Extension – No Reasonable Suspicion
State v. Bedient (Lawyers Weekly No. 011-160-16, 22 pp.) (Martha Geer, J.) Appealed from Jackson County Superior Court (Bradley Letts, J.) N.C. App. Holding: Defendant’s nervousness and her association with a known drug dealer did not justify a police officer’s extension of a traffic stop. We reverse the trial court’s denial of defendant’s motion to […]
Search & Seizure – Excessive Force – Exceeding Scope of Consent – Tort/Negligence – Emotional Distress
Holding: Although defendants hotly contest plaintiff Rhodes’ story, there is a material issue of genuine fact as to whether defendants used excessive force based on Rhodes’ version of events, leading to Rhodes’ injury during a search for stolen goods.
Criminal Practice — Search & Seizure – Search Warrant – Defendant’s Home – Guest’s Car – First Impression
State v. Lowe (Lawyers Weekly No. 15-07-0727, 19 pp.) (Lucy Inman, J.) Appealed from Wake County Superior Court (Reuben Young, J.) N.C. App. Holding: A warrant to search a home did not permit officers to search the car of an overnight guest, despite the fact that it was parked in the home’s driveway. We reverse […]
Criminal Practice — Search & Seizure – Traffic Stop – Driver’s License – 5-Year-Old Warrant
State v. Leak (Lawyers Weekly No. 15-07-0553, 18 pp.) (Sanford Steelman Jr., J.) (Douglas McCullough, J., dissenting) Appealed from Anson County Superior Court (Mark Klass, J.) N.C. App. Holding: Since an investigating officer had no suspicion of criminal activity after he made sure that a driver on the side of the road was not in […]
Criminal Practice — Search & Seizure – Search Warrant – Visitor Leaving House – Boxes
State v. McKnight (Lawyers Weekly No. 15-07-0088, 30 pp.) (Linda Stephens, J.) Appealed from Wake County Superior Court (R. Allen Baddour, J.) N.C. App. Holding: Since there was no competent evidence that defendant realized his vehicle was being followed by police, and since his turning around in a driveway on Shellburne Drive cannot properly be […]
Criminal Practice — Search & Seizure – Marijuana Growing – Anonymous Tip Standard – Power Bill – First Impression
State v. Benters (Lawyers Weekly No. 14-06-1188, 31 pp.) (Cheri Beasley, J.) (Paul Newby, J., dissenting) Appealed from Vance County Superior Court (Carl Fox, J.) On appeal from the Court of Appeals. N.C. S. Ct. Holding: Even though a power bill for property that defendant owned (but where he did not live) had “extreme high […]
Criminal Practice – Search & Seizure – Schoolchild – Strip Search – ‘Bra Lift’ – Additional Findings
In re T.A.S. Where our Court of Appeals held that the “bra lift” search of a student was unreasonable, that opinion is vacated. We remand to the trial court for additional findings including but not necessarily limited to the names, occupations, genders, and involvement of all the individuals physically present at the “bra lift” search of the student; whether the student was advis[...]
Criminal Practice – Search & Seizure – Traffic Stop – DWI – Reasonable Suspicion – Wide Turn
State v. Osterhoudt A state trooper did not violate defendant’s Fourth Amendment rights when the trooper stopped defendant for crossing a double yellow line while making a right turn. Although defendant did not – as the trooper mistakenly thought – violate G.S. § 20-146(a), he did violate G.S. §§ 20-146(d) and 20-153(a).
Criminal Practice – Search & Seizure – Traffic Stop – Estimated Speed
U.S. v. Mubdi The 4th Circuit upholds a traffic stop based on two officers’ separate visual estimates of defendant’s speed, as the officers’ radar certification training required them to visually estimate vehicle speed within a narrow margin of error; the subsequent open-air search by a drug-sniffing dog did not violate defendant’s Fourth Amendment rights, and his convictions for [...]
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