Case Summaries: N.C. Court of Appeals (Oct. 17, 2023)

This post summarizes the published criminal opinions from the North Carolina Court of Appeals released on October 17, 2023. These summaries will be added to Smith’s Criminal Case Compendium, a free and searchable database of case summaries from 2008 to the present. Trial court’s finding of credibility for deputy’s testimony resolved conflicting accounts between the deputy and defendant; defendant’s actions of cupping his hand and throwing away a marijuana blunt supported constructive possession of the drugs in question. State v. Burleson, COA23-212, ___ N.C. App. ___ (Oct. 17, 2023). In this McDowell County case, defendant appealed his convictions for drug-related crimes and attaining habitual felon status, arguing error in (1) denial of his motion to suppress the results of a search and (2) denial of his motion to dismiss the charges. The Court of Appeals found no error. In April of 2021, defendant and an acquaintance drove up to a driver’s license checkpoint operated by the McDowell County Sheriff's Department. A sheriff’s deputy approached the truck and asked the two men if either of them were on probation; the driver told the deputy he was, while defendant, as the passenger, told the deputy he was not. The deputy subsequently asked if there was anything illegal in the vehicle, and if he had their consent to search the vehicle. The driver gave verbal consent to the search, and the deputy asked him to step out of the vehicle for a pat down. After checking the driver, the deputy moved to defendant, and [...]