Supreme Court Reverses Its Decision to Allow Review

The North Carolina Supreme Court recently reversed its own decision to allow discretionary review in the case of State v. Schiene. This is a case that arose out of Mecklenburg County. Here Mr. Schiene moved the trial court to suppress evidence seized from his vehicle pursuant to a warrantlesssearch. Law enforcement had based probable cause to search on the totality of the circumstances including as a factor the strong odor of cannabis. In a unanimous decision, the North Carolina Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court’s denial of Mr. Schiene’s motion to suppress.

Because the Supreme Court has recently reaffirmed precedent requiring an examination of the totality of the circumstances, including that the odor of cannabis may be considered as a factor, Mr. Schiene’s petition should not have been allowed. The Court concluded that since this issue has already recently been addressed, it would be superfluous to address it again in this case.