State v. Brown, 217 N.C. App. 566

Robbery of a Dollar General on 6 November 2009; Sgt. Griffin continued to search for the suspects in Henderson County after the armed robbery.
Around 2:00 a.m. Griffin followed a vehicle on Highway 64, observed it stop near a wooded area, and then pull away when it accelerated past him.
Griffin stopped the vehicle after following it for over a mile; defendant, the driver, was Caucasian and the odor of alcohol was detected.
Defendant was subjected to two Alco-sensor tests that yielded positive results for alcohol and was arrested.
Defendant moved to suppress the stop and fruits of the stop; district court denied; defendant pled guilty but preserved appellate issues; superior court later heard and denied a renewed suppression motion.
The Court of Appeals reviewed preservation of the appeal, held the issue was preserved, and reversed the denial of the motion to suppress on the grounds that the stop lacked reasonable suspicion.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the stop was illegal for lack of reasonable suspicion	Brown	Brown argues no reasonable suspicion supported the stop	Stop not supported by reasonable suspicion; reversal granted
Whether preservation of the appeal was sufficiently specific	Brown	State contends preservation was insufficient	Preservation adequate; appellate review proper

State v. Reynolds, 298 N.C. 380, 259 S.E.2d 843 (1979) (notice to appeal suppression required before plea negotiations)
State v. Pimental, 153 N.C.App. 69, 568 S.E.2d 867 (2002) (notice of appeal sufficient when clearly preserving issues)
State v. McBride, ? (1995) (1995) (concurrent notice satisfies preservation)
State v. Veazey, 201 N.C.App. 398, 689 S.E.2d 530 (2009) (review of suppression conclusions; conflict resolution for factual findings)
State v. Covington, 138 N.C.App. 688, 532 S.E.2d 221 (2000) (distinguishable facts; direction of suspect flight matters)
State v. Thompson, 296 N.C. 703, 252 S.E.2d 776 (1979) (totality of the circumstances and rational inferences)
State v. Murray, 192 N.C.App. 684, 666 S.E.2d 205 (2008) (unparticularized suspicion near break-ins insufficient)