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Two Men Apprehended After Largest Cleveland County Marijuana Bust in History

Cleveland County, North Carolina narcotics detectives reportedly seized about 1,800 pounds of marijuana from a house which is said to be Blog-Drug Chargesthe biggest marijuana bust in Cleveland County history.  The men allegedly hid the 1.8 million (street value) worth of marijuana in the bed of a pickup truck next to the house in which they were residing.  The information related to the bust came from a local confidential informant.

When the police knocked on the door of the house, the two suspects allowed them to conduct a search without a warrant.  Neither of the men spoke English; therefore, the men could not be questioned by police immediately after being Mirandized. Both men face felony drug trafficking charges, and deputies are still staging an investigation as to where the marijuana came from.

If you or a loved one face a drug trafficking charge, call the law offices of Reeves, Aiken & Hightower, LLP for a confidential consultation.  If you have been charged in North Carolina, call our Charlotte, North Carolina office at 704-499-9000.  Also, South Carolina charges can be handled at our Baxter Village office at 803-548-5999, and we can also be contacted toll-free at 877-374-4444.

Charlotte’s New Enforcement Team Begins DWI Checkpoint Process

On December 18, 2012, Charlotte Mecklenburg patrol officers and policemen teamed with the Mecklenburg ABC Law Enforcement to file an astonishing total of 89 DWI charges. The checkpoint was set up on University City Boulevard late on Friday evening and early into Saturday morning.

This particular checkpoint was the “kick off” to the later 25 checkpoints that the Enforcement Team plans to hold throughout Charlotte this year.

According to reports, the checkpoint was equipped with a large bus that was standing by to administer breathalyzer tests to the person suspected of drinking and driving. The checkpoint was instituted as part of a statewide “Booze It or Lose It” campaign in which the force wished to prevent drunk driving and educate the public of the serious dangers in connection to driving while intoxicated.

This particular checkpoint was set up were targeted towards college students attending the University of North Carolina at the Charlotte Campus. The Campus has numerous entrances, one being located directly off of University City Boulevard.

After all was said and done, 24 people were charged with driving with a revoked license. Moreover, 18 people were charged for operating tractor-trailers or semi’s without having the proper operator’s license. Of the 89 charges issued, only seven were awarded to people who were driving while intoxicated. The remaining 29 charges were due too minor traffic violations.

If you or someone you know has been charged with a DWI, or any other traffic violation, contact the law offices of Reeves, Aiken,and Hightower,LLP. Our criminal attorneys understand the hardships that come with any criminal charges and want to help you or someone you know through his/her difficult time.  We are licensed in both North and South Carolina, where you can contact us at 704-499-9000 or 877-374-5999 toll-free.

 

 

The 4th Amendment and Home Curtilage Searches in NC

The 4th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution protects the citizens against unreasonable searches and seizures of their persons, houses, papers, and effects conducted by government officials.  An emerging issue that has confronted courts for many years, most recently in a North Carolina Court of Appeals decision, is whether or not curtilage is considered part of the home so that a warranted must be obtained before it may be searched.

Curtilage is defined as the land immediately surrounding a house or dwelling, including any closely associated buildings and structures, but excluding any associated “open fields beyond”. It delineates the boundary within which a home owner can have a reasonable expectation of privacy and where “intimate home activities” take place.  In United States v. Dunn, 480 U.S. 294 (1987), the Supreme Court provided guidance in interpreting whether the homeowner had a reasonable expectation of privacy in the area searched saying that, “curtilage questions should be resolved with particular reference to four factors: the proximity of the area claimed to be curtilage to the home, whether the area is included within an enclosure surrounding the home, the nature of the uses to which the area is put, and the steps taken by the resident to protect the area from observation by people passing by.”

Based on these and other contributing factors, the North Carolina Court of Appeals in its recent decision in State v. Grice, 2012 N.C. App. LEXIS 1316 (November 20, 2012), held that a valid knock and announce presence by police officers does not support a warrantless search and seizure of evidence inside the curtilage of a home, even if the evidence is in plain view while the officer is located at a lawful vantage point.  The court of appeals weighed heavily the fact that it would be hard to limit a knock and announce rule as prerequisite to any seizure of evidence inside the home’s curtilage based on the plain-view doctrine to ensure a reasonable expectation of privacy of homeowners.  The court reasoned that by giving officers the right to seize any item in plain-view from a lawful vantage point wherever that item may be located goes against the policy of private citizens being secure and free in their homes and is filled with the dangers the 4th Amendment was intended to prohibit.

If you or someone you know is facing criminal charges due to a Constitutional violation, contact the law offices of Robert J. Reeves,PC to consult with one of our criminal attorneys. We are licensed in both North and South Carolina, where you can contact us at 704-499-9000 or 877-374-5999 toll-free.

Three CMPD Officers Injured, Two Drivers Facing DWI Charges

Officers are still recovering in the hospital after being struck by impaired drivers in separate incidents at the same location last night.

The first incident happened on Saturday night around 11:30 when two officers from the Providence Division Reinke and Wassenaar were outbound on Independence at Eastway Drive working the scene of a vehicular accident when an intoxicated driver failed to heed the officer’s emergency lights and struck both officers.  The second incident happened at about 2:00 a.m. when another office of the Eastway Division was on scene to handle traffic from the previous accident and was struck while in his patrol car by a separate intoxicated driver.  Both drivers are being charged with felony serious injury by vehicle and DWI.

Any type of DWI case is a serious matter.  Contact the law offices of Reeves, Aiken, and Hightower, LLP to consult with a criminal attorney about any robbery charges.  Our DWI attorneys want to help you or someone you might know with his/her DWI case.  We also handle other various different types of criminal cases in North Carolina and South Carolina.  We are licensed in both North Carolina and South Carolina, where you can contact us at 704-499-9000 or 877-374-5999 toll-free.

 

North Carolina’s Current and Future Interlock Ignition Laws

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) sand the U.S. Congress have agreed in unison that ignition interlock in vehicles be  made a mandatory requirement for anyone convicted of a DWI, including first time offenders. NTSB and Congress also believe that this power should rest with the states, allowing each state to craft their own mandatory requirements.

Specifically, according to the safety bill adopted by Congress last year, states will be given federal grants in order to aid the ignition interlock, ensuring that each state can comply with the requirement if desired. Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act, Pub. L. 112-141. ( U.S.)(2011). The bill was introduced after a special investigation into vehicle crashes, resulting from intoxicated drivers travelling down the wrong way of the roadways. The NTSB ultimately concluded that installing the interlock ignition would greatly reduce the amount of accidents caused by intoxicated drivers.

There are three instances in which the state of North Carolina currently requires ignition interlock as a condition of regaining one’s driver’s license: (1) the person has an alcohol concentration of 0.15 or more; (2) the person was convicted of another offense, involving impaired driving within seven years of the offense for which the person’s license is revoked; or (3), the person was sentenced at an “Aggravated Level One,” which is the highest level of punishment one can receive for a misdemeanor DWI. Thus, our state’s system is currently not as rigid as the NTSB requirement. In order to comply with the requirement and be awarded federal money, North Carolina would have to expand the mandatory interlock ignition requirement to all persons charged with a DWI.

In order to jumpstart production of the ignition interlock, the NTSB and the Automotive Coalition for Traffic Safety and National Highway Transportation Safety Administration have united to begin working to develop this “high tech” equipment through a cooperative research program referred to as the DADSS program.

The DADSS system is opposed to the current interlock ignition, believing that it is too burdensome on the use by widespread public. DADDSS thinks the current system, which requires the driver to blow into a breathalyzer every time they start the car, is an extremely intrusive system.

Thus, DADSS has created two less intrusive alternatives for the interlock ignition. The first system would be a touch-based approach, measuring the person’s alcohol concentration by their skin. The second would be similar to the breathalyzer, however rather than “blowing,” sensors would be used to test the driver’s breath on the exhale.

Many in support of the DADSS system believe that this maybe one of the few times in which the government can utilize technology to prevent a crime, without “unduly burdening the individual freedom.” If they are correct, there could be no constitutional violations raised, and serious injury and deaths due to drunk drivers may be greatly reduced, to the benefit of all drivers alike.

If you or a loved one has been charged with driving under the influence, driving under suspension, or any other alcohol related charge, call the law offices of Reeves Aiken & Hightower for a consultation.  We know that a DUI can determine the next year or so of a person’s life; therefore, it is important for you to get proper representation.  Call us at 704-499-9000, or toll-free at 877-374-5999.