State v. George, COA22-958, ___ N.C. App. ___ (Mar. 5, 2024)

In this Sampson County case, defendant appealed his convictions for trafficking heroin by possession and by transport, possession with intent to sell or deliver heroin and cocaine, and resisting a public officer, arguing (1) insufficient findings of fact, and (2) error in denying his motion to suppress the results of a traffic stop. The Court of Appeals found no error. 

In July of 2017, an officer pulled defendant over for driving 70 mph in a 55 mph zone. When the officer approached defendant’s car, he noticed the smell of marijuana and what appeared to be marijuana residue on the floorboard. After a long search for registration, defendant finally produced his documents; when the officer returned to his vehicle, he called for backup. After checking defendant’s registration and returning his documents, the officer asked defendant if any illegal drugs were in the vehicle, and defendant said no.  Defendant declined the officer’s request to search the vehicle, but during a free-air sniff around the vehicle, a canine altered at the driver’s side door. A search found various narcotics. Defendant filed a pre-trial motion to suppress the results of the search, but the trial court denied the motion after a suppression hearing.  

Both of defendant’s points of appeal depended upon the underlying argument that the officer unconstitutionally prolonged the traffic stop. Beginning with (1) the findings of fact to support the trial court’s conclusion of law that the traffic stop was not unconstitutionally extended, the Court of Appeals explained that “our de novo review examining the constitutionality of the traffic stop’s extension shows that the challenged legal conclusion is adequately supported by the findings of fact.” Slip Op. at 8. 

The court then proceeded to (2), performing a review of the traffic stop to determine whether the officer had reasonable suspicion to extend the stop. Because defendant argued that the legalization of hemp in North Carolina meant the smell and sight of marijuana could not support the reasonable suspicion required to extend the stop, the court looked to applicable precedent on the issue. The court noted several federal court decisions related to probable cause, and the holding in State v. Teague, 286 N.C. App. 160 (2023), that the passage of the Industrial Hemp Act did not alter the State’s burden of proof. Slip Op. at 13. After considering the circumstances, the court concluded “there was at least ‘a minimal level of objective justification, something more than an unparticularized suspicion or hunch’ of completed criminal activity—possession of marijuana.” Id. at 13, quoting State v. Campbell, 359 N.C. 644, 664 (2005). Because the officer had sufficient justification for extending the stop, the trial court did not err by denying defendant’s motion to suppress.