Smith's Criminal Case Compendium
Table of Contents
Criminal Procedure
Indictment & Pleading Issues
Evidence
Criminal Offenses
Drug Offenses
State v. Ballance, 218 N.C. App. 202 (Jan. 17, 2012)
The trial court did not err by rejecting the defendant’s motion to suppress evidence obtained by officers when they entered the property in question. The court concluded that the property constituted an “open field,” so that the investigating officers’ entry onto the property and the observations made there did not constitute a “search” for Fourth Amendment purposes. The property consisted of 119 acres of wooded land used for hunting and containing no buildings or residences.