N.C. Court of Appeals Rules That Affidavit For Search Warrant to Search Residence Failed to Link Residence to Drug Activity That Had Occurred Elsewhere

Last week a three-judge panel of the North Carolina Court of Appeals in State v. Allman (5 Jan. 2016), ruled (2-1) that a search warrant to search a residence for drugs was not supported by probable cause because the affidavit failed to link the residence to drug activity that had occurred elsewhere. This post discusses some of the interesting issues in this case, including possible state supreme court review. Jeremy Black and Sean Whitehead lived at 4844 Acres Drive in Wilmington along with Logan McDonald and the defendant, who was Black’s girlfriend. Officers obtained a search warrant for drugs at this residence and found various drugs and paraphernalia. The search warrant’s affidavit alleged the following facts. On January 21, 2014, a Brunswick County deputy sheriff (Cherry) told the affiant, a New Hanover County deputy sheriff (Bacon), that he had conducted a vehicle stop in which Black and Whitehead, half-brothers, were the vehicle’s occupants. Whitehead told Cherry that they lived at 30 Twin Oaks Drive in Castle Hayne. A search of the vehicle discovered 8.1 ounces of packaged marijuana and over $1,600.00 in cash. Whitehead told Cherry that he kept some marijuana in his vehicle at his residence so his mother would not know about it. Cherry also learned that Whitehead owned two cell phones, and one of the phones contained text messages concerning the sale of marijuana. Bacon described in the affidavit the prior criminal history of Whitehead (convicted of possession of marijuana with intent to sell and deliver) and Black [...]