State v. Mbacke, 365 N.C. 403

Arrested defendant for carrying a concealed gun after a 911 report and furtive behavior; officer found handgun on defendant and searched vehicle after arrest.
A white brick of cocaine was found under the driver’s seat; field test positive for cocaine with laboratory confirmation.
Trial court denied suppression; on appeal, the Court of Appeals reversed on the grounds the vehicle search was not reasonable under Gant.
Supreme Court’s Gant decision held searches incident to arrest allowed only when arrestee is unsecured or when reasonable to believe evidence of the offense may be in the vehicle.
Davis v. United States held Gant applies retroactively to non-final cases; issue framed whether Gant applies to this case.
Court ultimately held the vehicle search was permissible under Gant and reversed the appellate court’s decision.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the vehicle search complied with Gant’s reasonable to believe standard	Mbacke	Mbacke	Yes; search permissible under Gant
Whether Gant applies retroactively to this case	Gant retroactive to non-final cases	Retroactivity denied	Yes; Gant applies retroactively
Whether trial court properly applied Gant to deny relief	Pre-trial ruling unaffected by Gant	Gant governs relief pursuit	Yes; denial proper under Gant

Arizona v. Gant, 556 U.S. 332 (U.S. 2009) (vehicle search incident to arrest limited to secure arrestee or reasonable evidence of arrest)
New York v. Belton, 453 U.S. 454 (U.S. 1981) (authorized search of passenger area incident to arrest)
Thornton v. United States, 541 U.S. 615 (U.S. 2004) (limits on searches incident to arrest to contemporaneous standards)
Davis v. United States, 564 U.S. 229 (U.S. 2011) (Gant retroactive to certain cases)
United States v. Place, 462 U.S. 696 (U.S. 1983) (reasonable suspicion framework applied to dog sniffs; distinguishes from vehicle search)
Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1 (U.S. 1968) (establishes reasonable articulable suspicion standard)