State v. Leak: Defendant Unlawfully Seized During License Check

The United States Supreme Court held in Rodriguez v. United States, ___ U.S. ___, 135 S. Ct. 1609 (2015) (discussed here), that a law enforcement officer may not extend a traffic stop to investigate matters unrelated to the basis for the stop—not even for a matter of minutes—unless the additional delay is supported by reasonable suspicion. The North Carolina Court of Appeals applied that principle this week in State v. Leak, ___ N.C. App. ___ (2015), reversing the trial court’s denial of the defendant’s motion to suppress and vacating the defendant’s conviction for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Facts. Bobby Gallimore, the police chief of Lilesville, NC, was patrolling the town late at night when he saw a car parked in a gravel area near a state highway.  Gallimore stopped to see if the driver needed help.  Before he approached the car, Gallimore ran its license plate number through his computer and saw that it was registered to Keith Leak.  Gallimore then approached the car and spoke to the driver.  The driver said he did not need help. He explained that he had pulled off the road to return a text message.  Gallimore asked to see his driver’s license, which the driver produced. The name on the license—Keith Leak—matched the name on the registration. Gallimore then took the license to his patrol car to “investigate [its] status.” Gallimore confirmed that the license was valid, but, in the process, discovered that there was an outstanding 2007 warrant for Leak’s [...]