Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Criminal Law Blogs -> Fourth Amendment

Criminal Law

: Fourth Amendment

NC: Brief wait after knock and announce was justified in a drug case because of possibility of destruction of evidence

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

In this drug case, the police knocked and announced, and the door was open and unlocked and the came in after a brief wait. Because the subject of the search was drugs and they were easily disposed of, the shortness of time was reasonable under the circumstances. State v. Terry, 2010 N.C. App. LEXIS 1868 (October 5, 2010).* Defendant drove a few inches over the fog line for an estimated 500', and that justified the stop. The officer smelled raw marijuana, and that justified a search of the vehicle. Dods v. State, 2010 WY 133, 2010 Wyo. LEXIS 142 (October 6, 2010).* In a stop at 2:30 a.m., a dispatch report that the vehicle was likely involved in shooting coupled with the motorist's nervousness justified a patdown of the driver. United States v...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on October 14, 2010 (boomark / email).