Administration of Justice Bulletin #2009/06

This bulletin explains procedures enacted by the Motor Vehicle Driver Protection Act of 2006 that govern the filing of motions to suppress and motions to dismiss in implied consent cases in district court, the determination of such motions, and the process for appealing those determinations. The bulletin also examines the North Carolina Court of Appeals' decisions in State v. Fowler, ___ N.C. App. ___, 676 S.E.2d 523 (2009), in which the court upheld the motions procedures as constitutional and explained the circumstances and manner in which they applied, and State v. Palmer, ___ N.C. App. ___, 676 S.E.2d 559 (2009), in which the court clarified the mechanism by which a state may appeal a district court's determination of such a motion.