“Our current presumption has the practical effect of stripping those who use marijuana…of their Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable search and seizure.”
By Carolina Journal
The newest member of the 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals used a North Carolina case Wednesday to discuss the potential legal impact of shifting attitudes about marijuana.
Judge Nicole Berner offered her commentary in an eight-page concurring opinion in United States v. Carson. Then-President Joe Biden appointed Berner to the 4th Circuit in 2024.
Appellate judges upheld Jermaine Derrick Carson Jr.’s conviction on a federal charge of firearm possession by a felon. The court rejected Carson’s arguments that evidence against him should have been suppressed. That included evidence resulting from Asheville police detective Steven Escobedo frisking Carson during a traffic stop.
Berner supported most of the majority decision. Yet she dedicated much of her concurrence to the link between marijuana and law enforcement searches.
“I agree with my colleagues that our precedent in United States v. Sakyi dictates the outcome of this case,” Berner wrote, citing a 1998 4th Circuit precedent.
“Sakyi created a presumption that a police officer has reasonable suspicion to frisk a suspect for a weapon during a traffic stop when he reasonably
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