Seeking Suppression for Out-of-Jurisdiction Arrests

Local law enforcement officers do not have statewide territorial jurisdiction to arrest. Instead, they generally are authorized to arrest only within the jurisdictional boundaries of the city or county they serve or on property owned by that city or county. See G.S. 15A-402 (discussed in detail here). Exceptions to the general rule permit out-of-jurisdiction arrests based on immediate and continuous flight and in certain other limited circumstances. When a law enforcement officer makes an arrest outside of his or her territorial jurisdiction, the person arrested may move to suppress the evidence resulting from the arrest. How should a court evaluate whether to grant such a motion? Basis for suppression. G.S. 15A-974 provides that upon timely motion, evidence must be suppressed if: (1) its exclusion is required by the federal or state constitution; or (2) it is obtained as a result of a substantial violation of Chapter 15A—the Criminal Procedure Act. No constitutional violation. An arrest made by an officer who has probable cause to believe that the arrestee has committed a crime, even a minor one, satisfies the Fourth Amendment’s reasonableness requirement. See Atwater v. City of Lago Vista, 532 U.S. 318, 354 (2001). That precept applies even when the arrest is carried out in violation of state law. In Virginia v. Moore, 553 U.S. 164 (2008), the United States Supreme Court held that the defendant’s arrest for driving with a suspended license did not violate the Fourth Amendment even though Virginia law prohibited the officers from arresting the defendant for [...]