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Criminal Procedure Keyed to Chemerinsky
Heien v. North Carolina
Citation:
574 U.S. 54 (2014)Facts
Heien (Defendant) was pulled over for a traffic stop due to a faulty brake light. The officers asked if they could search the car, and Heien consented. An officer found a sandwich bag containing cocaine in the car. Heien was then charged with attempted trafficking in cocaine. At trial, Heien moved to suppress the evidence seized from the car, arguing that the stop and search violated the Fourth Amendment, but the trial court denied the motion. The North Carolina Court of Appeals reversed, holding that the traffic stop had been invalid because driving with only one working brake light was not actually a violation of North Carolina law.
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