NC: Handcuffs did not automatically make defendant’s detention an arrest

Officer observed what he thought was a hand-to-hand drug sale, and he approached the defendant, the alleged buyer, to talk about it. Defendant said that he got a cigarette but he did not have it. The officer patted down the defendant and felt a bag in the pocket. He handcuffed then searched the defendant. The motion to suppress was improperly granted without consideration of “special circumstances” that would justify handcuffs without a seizure. Reversed and remanded for further consideration of that issue. State v. Carrouthers, 200 N.C. App. 415, 683 S.E.2d 781 (2009).*

Officers were in defendant’s house with an arrest warrant for another. Defendant was seen in bed and told he could leave. He asked for pants, and the officer picked up a pair and found a baggy protruding from the pocket in plain view. That was not an unreasonable seizure. Cauls v. Commonwealth, 55 Va. App. 90, 683 S.E.2d 847 (2009).*

Defendant’s guilty plea waived any Fourth Amendment issues. McAplin v. United States, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 97077 (W.D. N.C. August 15, 2009).*

Defendant’s ex-wife was a sufficient source of hearsay for a search warrant because of corroboration. Her information, although 11 months old, did not make the warrant stale because there was other information from other sources more timely. United States v. Modena, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 97920 (W.D. Mich. October 21, 2009)*:

“It is enough, for purposes of assessing probable cause, that ‘corroboration through other sources of information reduced the chances of a reckless or prevaricating tale,’ thus providing ‘a substantial basis for crediting the hearsay.'” Gates, 462 U.S. at 244-45 (quoting Jones v. U.S., 362 U.S. 257, 269, 80 S. Ct. 725, 4 L. Ed. 2d 697 (1960)). The information defendant’s ex-wife contributed in paragraph 13 was corroborated by Miller, which reduced the chances of a “reckless or prevaricating tale” and provided a substantial basis for crediting the hearsay.