On today’s episode Jake discusses the Community Caretaking exception to the warrant requirement as laid out in State v. Smathers. Where there is no reasonable suspicion or probable cause to believe that a traffic violation or crime has occurred, the purported basis for conducting a traffic stop that ultimately leads to a DWI arrest will frequently be the community caretaking doctrine. In this episode get a framework for how the community caretaking exception should be applied and the attack points that exist when contesting the validity of this exception.
Highlights:
Learn the elements of the three-part test established under State v. Smathers.
Uncover key language from the North Carolina appellate courts that can be used in an argument on the community caretaking doctrine.
Get a detailed outline on how to present a defense argument on a community caretaking exception stop.
Listen as Jake discusses the facts and reasoning of several recent appellate cases where the court did not find a community caretaking function to exist.
