Case Summaries: N.C. Court of Appeals (June 18, 2025)

This post summarizes the published criminal opinions from the North Carolina Court of Appeals released on June 18, 2025. Previously, summaries were added to Smith’s Criminal Case Compendium, but due to personnel changes and resource limitations, that resource is no longer available. We will continue to post and archive new summaries here on the blog. Search warrant affidavit provided probable cause where it included underlying circumstances supporting the credibility and reliability of an informant. The ‘continuous pattern’ nature of the crime supported a one to two week delay between the criminal activity observed and the issuance of the warrant. State v. Clark, ___ N.C. App. ___ (June 18, 2025) (Griffin). In May of 2022, a detective applied for a search warrant based on information obtained from a confidential informant. The search warrant affidavit specified that within the past ‘one or two weeks,’ the informant purchased schedule II-controlled substances multiple times from the defendant at the defendant’s residence in Kannapolis, NC. Upon executing the search warrant at the defendant’s residence, the defendant was indicted for felony trafficking in opium or heroin by possessing 28 grams or more of heroin (later superseded alleging fentanyl rather than heroin). The defendant moved to suppress the evidence collected on the basis that the search warrant affidavit was conclusory and stale. The trial court denied the motion, and the defendant pled guilty, preserving his right to appeal the denial of the suppression motion. The Court of Appeals first addressed whether the affidavit was conclusory. It found sufficient [...]