State v. Wilson

793 S.E.2d 737, 250 N.C. App. 781, 2016 N.C. App. LEXIS 1256
Court of Appeals of North Carolina·Decided December 6, 2016·No. 16-243·Published·Cited by 5 cases

Opinions

STEPHENS, Judge.

*781Defendant Joshua Ryan Wilson appeals from the judgment entered on his guilty plea for impaired driving. Wilson argues that the trial court erred by failing to suppress evidence obtained during his seizure by a police officer. Because we conclude Wilson was not seized under the Fourth Amendment, we find no error in the court's refusal to suppress the evidence obtained from the police officer's encounter with Wilson.

Factual and Procedural Background

The evidence considered by the trial court pursuant to Wilson's motion to suppress tended to show the following:

*782On 25 September 2013, Officer Blake Johnson of the Burlington Police Department went to a residence at 402 Brooklyn Street to find a man who had outstanding warrants for his arrest. Officer Johnson was acting on an anonymous tip to the Burlington Police Department that the wanted individual would be at the residence. Officer Johnson parked his car on Brooklyn Street across from the residence and got out of the vehicle. He walked toward the residence.

Officer Johnson observed a pickup truck leaving the residence at 402 Brooklyn Street. Officer Johnson was in the road, but was not blocking it. The truck, driven by Wilson, moved toward Officer Johnson from a cross street adjacent to the residence. Officer Johnson waved his hands back and forth just above shoulder level to tell Wilson to stop the vehicle. The officer's intention was to question Wilson to see if he knew anything about the man with the outstanding warrants. Officer Johnson had no suspicion that Wilson was the man he was looking for nor did he observe any illegal behavior by Wilson. Officer Johnson was in uniform, but no weapon was drawn, neither police car was blocking the road, and the blue lights and sirens were not activated.

Wilson stopped the truck with the driver's side window next to Officer Johnson. Wilson was alone in the vehicle. Officer Johnson "smelled the odor of alcohol coming from inside the vehicle" almost immediately. He asked Wilson about his alcohol consumption. Wilson admitted that he had been drinking, but said that he could not remember how many drinks he had consumed.

Officer Johnson arrested Wilson for driving while subject to an impairing substance.

*739Wilson pled guilty in Alamance County District Court on 4 August 2015, but appealed to the Superior Court. In Superior Court, Wilson moved to suppress the evidence resulting from his encounter with Officer Johnson. A hearing was held on 15 September 2015 before Judge Michael O'Foghludha, who denied Wilson's motion to suppress. Wilson subsequently pled guilty on 24 September 2015, reserving the right to appeal the order denying suppression of the evidence. Wilson gave notice of appeal the same day in open court.

Discussion

On appeal, Wilson argues that the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress the evidence obtained from his encounter with Officer Johnson, because Officer Johnson unconstitutionally seized Wilson without reasonable suspicion or probable cause. Because the trial court's findings of fact are supported by competent evidence, and the findings support its conclusions of law that Wilson was not seized *783under the Fourth Amendment, we find no error in the trial court's refusal to suppress the evidence obtained by Officer Johnson.

1. Standard of Review

Our review of a trial court's denial of a motion to suppress is "strictly limited to determining whether the trial judge's underlying findings of fact are supported by competent evidence, in which event they are conclusively binding on appeal, and whether those factual findings in turn support the judge's ultimate conclusions of law." State v. Cooke , 306 N.C. 132, 134, 291 S.E.2d 618, 619 (1982). Unchallenged findings of fact are presumed to be supported by competent evidence. See State v. Pickard , 178 N.C.App. 330, 334, 631 S.E.2d 203, 206 (2006) (citations omitted). "[A]ny determination requiring the exercise of judgment or the application of legal principles is more properly classified a conclusion of law." In re Helms , 127 N.C.App. 505, 510, 491 S.E.2d 672, 675 (1997) (internal citations omitted). Findings of fact which are mislabeled as conclusions of law may be re-classified by the appellate court and subjected to the appropriate standard of review. State v. Hopper , 205 N.C.App. 175, 179, 695 S.E.2d 801, 805 (2010). "The trial court's conclusions of law ... are fully reviewable on appeal." State v. Hughes , 353 N.C. 200, 208, 539 S.E.2d 625, 631 (2000).

2. No Fourth Amendment seizure

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State v. Wilson, 793 S.E.2d 737, 250 N.C. App. 781, 2016 N.C. App. LEXIS 1256 (N.C. Ct. App. 2016).

793 S.E.2d 737 (State v. Wilson) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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