State v. McKinney, 231 N.C. App. 594

Officer Bradshaw received an anonymous tip that an apartment at 302 Edwards Rd. had heavy short-term traffic and suspected narcotics activity; tipster claimed to have seen drugs exchanged in the parking lot.
Bradshaw surveilled the apartment and observed Roy Foushee enter, remain ~6 minutes, then leave; a marked unit stopped Foushee for traffic violations.
Officers found a mostly-empty bag of marijuana and $4,258 on Foushee; he was arrested and officers read text messages from his phone referencing a drug sale.
Bradshaw applied for and obtained a warrant to search the apartment based on the tip, his surveillance, Foushee’s arrest/contraband, and the texts; the search produced drugs, paraphernalia, and firearms, and defendant (apartment occupant) was arrested.
Defendant moved to suppress, arguing the warrant lacked probable cause; the trial court denied the motion, defendant pleaded guilty to remaining charges while reserving appeal on suppression, and appealed the denial.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the warrant provided probable cause to search the apartment	Affidavit showed recent drug activity connected to the apartment: citizen tip, surveillance of short visits, contraband/cash on Foushee, and incriminating texts — supporting a nexus to the apartment	Affidavit only showed contraband on Foushee and uncorroborated traffic; no direct observation of drugs at the apartment or a link between persons in texts and the apartment	Warrant lacked probable cause because affidavit linked the apartment to drugs only by officer conclusion; facts did not reasonably support inference contraband was at the apartment

State v. Campbell, 282 N.C. 125 (1972) (affidavit insufficient where premises were implicated only by affiant's conclusion)
State v. Crisp, 19 N.C. App. 456 (1973) (traffic stop finding contraband plus surveillance of heavy traffic did not establish probable cause to search residence)
State v. Hunt, 150 N.C. App. 101 (2002) (citizen complaints and short-term visitor pattern, without observation of drugs, insufficient to establish nexus)
State v. McCoy, 100 N.C. App. 574 (1990) (contraband observed in two hotel rooms rented by same suspect supported inference of contraband in a third room)
State v. Edwards, 185 N.C. App. 701 (2007) (probable cause to search requires it be more probable than not that contraband will be found at the specifically described location)
State v. Cooke, 306 N.C. 132 (1982) (appellate review standard for suppression hearing findings)
State v. Hughes, 353 N.C. 200 (2000) (conclusions of law in suppression rulings are fully reviewable on appeal)