Asking for Consent to Search During a Traffic Stop
Suppose an officer conducts a traffic stop. During the stop, the officer gets a hunch that the driver may have drugs in the car. Can the officer ask the driver […]
September 12, 2022
Update on Pole Cameras and the Fourth Amendment
When an officer attaches a video camera to a utility pole and uses it to monitor a suspect’s home continuously for several months, is that a “search” within the meaning […]
May 2, 2022
Search Warrants for Digital Devices and the Requirement that Warrants be Executed within 48 Hours
I’ve had several questions lately about the requirement in G.S. 15A-248 that “[a] search warrant must be executed within 48 hours from the time of issuance.” The specific concern is […]
May 19, 2021
When May Officers Use Deadly Force?
Recent well-publicized incidents have led to questions about when a law enforcement officer may use deadly force to seize a fleeing suspect. The short answer is that the Constitution permits […]
April 5, 2021
Supreme Court to Decide Whether Hot Pursuit Applies to Misdemeanors
In 2016, the North Carolina Court of Appeals held in State v. Adams, 250 N.C. App. 664 (2016), that law enforcement officers acted lawfully when, lacking a warrant, they chased […]
March 29, 2021
Case Summaries – U.S. Supreme Court (March 25, 2021)
This post summarizes a decision released by the United States Supreme Court on March 25, 2021.
September 29, 2020
Conducting Surveillance and Collecting Location Data in a Post-Carpenter World, Part I
Two years have passed since the Supreme Court held in Carpenter v. United States, 585 U.S. ___, 138 S.Ct. 2206 (2018), that the government carried out a Fourth Amendment search […]
March 10, 2020
Proms and PBTs
Spring is only a few weeks away. Soon preparation will begin for the rites of the season, among them pruning, planting, and, of course, prom. A few weeks ago, I […]
October 21, 2019
Is the Exigent Circumstances Doctrine an Exception to the Warrant Requirement, or Something More?
I have long thought of the exigent circumstances doctrine as an exception to the warrant requirement – it allows a search to be conducted when probable cause is present but […]
August 29, 2019
NC Supreme Court Weighs in on State v. Terrell and Private Search Doctrine
The North Carolina Supreme Court held in State v. Terrell, __ N.C. __ (Aug. 16, 2019), that a private party’s limited search of a defendant’s thumb drive did not frustrate […]
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