Case Summaries: N.C. Court of Appeals (July 2, 2025)

This post summarizes the published criminal opinions from the North Carolina Court of Appeals released on July 2, 2025. Smell of marijuana justified a warrantless search of the juvenile’s vehicle. In the Matter of: J.B.P., No. COA23-269 (N.C. Ct. App. July 2, 2025). On September 22, 2022, officers with the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office were conducting surveillance on a suspected drug house. An officer smelled what he perceived to be marijuana while driving by a vehicle parked in front of the residence. The juvenile later drove away from the residence in that vehicle, and officers conducted a traffic stop. When an officer approached the car, he smelled the odor of marijuana emanating from the vehicle, and, when the juvenile stepped out of the car, the officer observed the odor of marijuana on the juvenile’s person. Officers searched the vehicle and seized marijuana, a digital scale, and a handgun. The sheriff’s office filed petitions alleging the juvenile was delinquent because he was in possession of marijuana with intent to sell or distribute and a concealed handgun without a permit. In October 2022, the juvenile filed a motion to suppress, claiming that the search of his car violated his constitutional rights. Pursuant to a hearing, and based in part on a 2019 memo issued by the State Bureau of Investigation stating that marijuana is indistinguishable by sight or smell from legal hemp, the trial court granted the motion to suppress. It ruled that police did not have probable cause to believe the vehicle [...]