IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF NORTH CAROLINA

2021-NCCOA-660

No. COA20-712

Filed 7 December 2021

Cabarrus County, No. 19 CRS 052709

STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA

v.

DANIEL RAYMOND JONAS, Defendant.

Appeal by Defendant from judgment entered 3 March 2020 by Judge Martin 

B. McGee in Cabarrus County Superior Court. Heard in the Court of Appeals 21

September 2021.

Attorney General Joshua H. Stein, by Assistant Attorney General Jessica 

Macari, for the State.

Sigler Law, PLLC, by Kerri L. Sigler, for defendant-appellant.

MURPHY, Judge.

¶ 1 When a defendant pleads guilty but does not plead guilty pursuant to a plea 

arrangement with the State, he is not required to give the State notice of his intent 

to appeal before plea negotiations are finalized to pursue his statutory right to appeal 

a final order denying a motion to suppress pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 15A-979(b). We 

have jurisdiction to hear the merits of Defendant’s appeal of his Motion to Suppress.

¶ 2 A traffic stop made without reasonable articulable suspicion is 
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unconstitutional as it violates the Fourth Amendment. Evidence illegally obtained 

as a result of an unconstitutional traffic stop must be suppressed. Reviewing the 

totality of the circumstances, law enforcement did not have reasonable articulable 

suspicion to stop Defendant and, as such, the traffic stop was unconstitutional. The 

trial court erred by denying Defendant’s Motion to Suppress.

BACKGROUND

¶ 3 On 28 June 2019, around 10:00 p.m., Officer Andrew Berry of the Concord 

Police Department was on routine patrol of Highway 49 South when he noticed a 

vehicle with three occupants pull out ahead of him from a trucking company parking 

lot. Due to the empty parking lot, the fact the gate was closed, and that there was 

only one light on in the parking lot, Officer Berry believed the business was closed,

which “kind of raised [his] suspicion on why the vehicle [was] pulling out of there.” 

Officer Berry followed the vehicle and, when he was close enough behind it, he noticed 

the vehicle displayed a transporter plate, which he had “never seen . . . on a car.” 

Officer Berry ran the plate through his computer system, and the plate came back as

“not assigned to [a] vehicle.” 

¶ 4 Defendant Daniel Raymond Jonas was a passenger in the vehicle as well as its

registered owner. “[B]ased on the fact that the vehicle was displaying [what Officer 

Berry believed to be] a fictitious tag, and [he was] attempting to determine what tag 

was supposed to be on the vehicle[,]” Officer Berry initiated a traffic stop. During the 
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stop, the Concord Police Department canine unit arrived and conducted an open-air 

sniff around the vehicle. Law enforcement located 0.1 grams of methamphetamine 

in a backpack in the trunk of the vehicle. 

¶ 5 Defendant was subsequently indicted for possession of a Schedule II controlled 

substance. Prior to trial, Defendant filed a Motion to Suppress, requesting any 

evidence seized in connection with Officer Berry’s traffic stop on 28 June 2019 be 

suppressed as fruit of the poisonous tree because Officer Berry lacked a reasonable 

articulable suspicion to stop the vehicle. After a hearing on the motion, the trial court 

entered an order denying Defendant’s Motion to Suppress (“Order”), which contained 

the following findings of fact: 

1. [Defendant] is charged with [p]ossession of a Schedule II 

[c]ontrolled [s]ubstance as a result of an interaction he had 

with Officer Andrew Berry of the Concord Police 

Department on [28 June 2019] in Concord, North Carolina. 

2. That on [28 June 2019], at approximately 10:00 PM, 

Officer Berry was on duty within his jurisdiction driving on 

NC Highway 49 when a vehicle displaying a transporter 

registration plate pulled onto Highway 49 in front of him 

from [] a trucking company. Officer Berry believed the 

business was closed because the business’s office was dark 

and there were no other vehicles in the office parking lot. 

3. Even though [Defendant’s] vehicle did not have a trailer 

attached to it, Officer Berry was aware of a recent trailer 

theft in the area. 

4. Officer Berry ran the transporter registration plate and 

the plate came back as not assigned to a vehicle. 
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5. Officer Berry initiated a traffic stop on the vehicle. 

6. The [trial court] is considering [] Defendant’s motion to 

suppress filed on [31 October 2019]. 

The Order contained the following relevant conclusions of law:

3. The vehicle was exiting from a closed business with no 

lights visible to the [roadway].

[1]

4. [N.C.G.S. §] 20-79.2 provides: “The Division of Motor 

Vehicles may issue a transporter plate authorizing the 

limited operation of a motor vehicle in the circumstances 

listed in this subsection. A person who received a 

transporter plate must have proof of financial 

responsibility that meets the requirements of Article 9A of 

this Chapter.” The statute goes on to list ten (10) limited 

circumstances in which a person to whom a transporter 

plate and the vehicle bearing the plate may be operated. 

5. The officer had reasonable articulable suspicion to stop 

the vehicle in question to ensure its compliance with 

N.C.G.S. § 20-79.2.

¶ 6 Following the denial of the Motion to Suppress, Defendant pled guilty2 to 

possession of a Schedule II controlled substance and received a suspended sentence 

of 6 to 17 months. After the trial court announced its judgment, through counsel, 

 

1 We note Conclusion of Law 3 is more properly characterized as a finding of fact. See 

In re Helms, 127 N.C. App. 505, 510, 491 S.E.2d 672, 675 (1997) (citations and marks omitted) 

(“[A]ny determination requiring the exercise of judgment or the application of legal principles

is more properly classified a conclusion of law. Any determination reached through logical 

reasoning from the evidentiary facts is more properly classified a finding of fact.”). However, 

this distinction is not relevant to our analysis.

2 Defendant did not plead guilty pursuant to a plea arrangement with the State. See

Part A, infra at ¶ 9.
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Defendant orally gave notice of appeal of the Order. In open court, following the trial 

court’s acceptance of his guilty plea, counsel stated: “Your Honor, [Defendant] would 

enter notice of appeal. I filed written notice[3] with regard to the motion to suppress. 

I just wanted to put it on the record now, and I’ll be filing a notice.” Defendant has 

also filed a petition for writ of certiorari with this Court, “should [we] find that trial 

counsel failed to give proper notice of appeal following the denial of [Defendant’s] 

suppression motion as required by State v. Reynolds, 298 N.C. 380, 397, 259 S.E.2d 

843, 853 (1979)[.]” This matter was calendared before us on 21 September 2021;

however, on 22 September 2021, we invited the parties to file supplemental briefs 

addressing 

whether our Supreme Court’s holding in State v. Reynolds-

‘when a defendant intends to appeal from a suppression 

motion denial pursuant to N.C.G.S. [§] 15A-979(b), he must 

give notice of his intention to the prosecutor and the trial 

court before plea negotiations are finalized or he will waive 

the appeal of right provisions of the statute’-applies in a 

situation where, as here, Defendant’s plea of guilty is not 

‘part of a plea arrangement.’ State v. Reynolds, 298 N.C. 

380, 397, 259 S.E.2d 843, 853 (1979), cert. denied, 446 U.S. 

941, 64 L. Ed. 2d 795 (1980)[.]

We further cited to State v. Tew, 326 N.C. 732, 734-35, 392 S.E.2d 603, 604-05 (1990); 

State v. McBride, 120 N.C. App. 623, 625, 463 S.E.2d 403, 404 (1995), aff’d per curiam, 

 

3 A written notice of appeal does not appear anywhere in the Record on appeal.
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344 N.C. 623, 476 S.E.2d 106 (1996); Form AOC-CR-300 paragraph 20 (Rev. 5/18); 

Record page 17 at paragraph 20; and page 7 lines 4-10 of the plea transcript.

ANALYSIS

A. Appellate Jurisdiction

¶ 7 “In North Carolina, a defendant’s right to pursue an appeal from a criminal 

conviction is a creation of state statute.” McBride, 120 N.C. App. at 624, 463 S.E.2d 

at 404. Generally, a defendant who pleads guilty does not have a right to appeal. See

N.C.G.S. § 15A-1444(e) (2019). However, N.C.G.S. § 15A-979(b) provides an

exception for defendants appealing a final order denying a motion to suppress. See

N.C.G.S. § 15A-979(b) (2019) (emphasis added) (“An order finally denying a motion 

to suppress evidence may be reviewed upon an appeal from a judgment of conviction, 

including a judgment entered upon a plea of guilty.”). 

¶ 8 In Reynolds, our Supreme Court interpreted this exception and held that 

“when a defendant intends to appeal from a suppression motion denial pursuant to 

[N.C.G.S. §] 15A-979(b), he must give notice of his intention to the prosecutor and the 

[trial] court before plea negotiations are finalized or he will waive the appeal of right 

provisions of the statute.” Reynolds, 298 N.C. at 397, 259 S.E.2d at 853 (emphasis 

added). Our Supreme Court reasoned:

We do not believe that [N.C.G.S. § 15A-979(b)] . . . 

contemplates a factual pattern . . . which would cause the 

State to be trapped into agreeing to a plea bargain . . . and 
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then have the defendant contest that bargain. 

As stated by the United States Supreme Court, “Once the 

defendant chooses to bypass the orderly procedure for 

litigating his constitutional claims in order to take the 

benefits, if any, of a plea of guilty, the State acquires a 

legitimate expectation of finality in the conviction thereby 

obtained.” 

The plea bargaining table does not encircle a high stakes 

poker game. It is the nearest thing to arm’s length 

bargaining the criminal justice system confronts. As such, 

it is entirely inappropriate for either side to keep secret any 

attempt to appeal the conviction.

Id. (quoting Lefkowitz v. Newsome, 420 U.S. 283, 289, 43 L. Ed. 2d 196, 202 (1975)). 

¶ 9 The State argues Defendant did not comply with the Reynolds notice 

requirement because his “intent to appeal came after the entry of the plea” and 

“notice of the intention to appeal is required before the conclusion of plea 

negotiations.” (Emphasis omitted). However, Defendant did not agree to plead guilty 

as part of a plea arrangement, as indicated on the Transcript of Plea, reproduced 

below:
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Defendant also testified during his plea colloquy that he did not plead guilty pursuant 

to a plea arrangement with the State:

THE COURT: Have you agreed to plead guilty as part of a 

plea arrangement?

[DEFENDANT]: Yes, sir. Oh. No, sir. 

THE COURT: No. There’s not one listed here. 

As Defendant did not plead guilty pursuant to a plea arrangement with the State, he 

was not required to comply with the Reynolds notice requirement in order to invoke 

his statutory right to appeal. 

¶ 10 The concerns that were present in Reynolds are not present here. Defendant
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neither received nor accepted the benefits of a plea offer from the State. The State 

was not “trapped into agreeing to a plea bargain” only to later “have [] [D]efendant 

contest that bargain.” Id. Defendant was not required to give the State and the trial 

court notice of his intent to appeal before plea negotiations were finalized because 

there were no plea negotiations. Defendant has a statutory right to appeal the Order 

pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 15A-979(b), and we dismiss his petition for writ of certiorari 

as moot. 

B. Motion to Suppress

¶ 11 Having established that this Court has proper appellate jurisdiction, we turn 

to the merits of Defendant’s appeal. Defendant’s sole argument on appeal is that the 

trial court erred by denying his Motion to Suppress because Officer Berry did not have 

a reasonable articulable suspicion to conduct the traffic stop. 

¶ 12 Our review of a trial court’s denial of a motion to suppress is “strictly limited 

to determining whether the trial [court’s] underlying findings of fact are supported 

by competent evidence, in which event they are conclusively binding on appeal, and 

whether those factual findings in turn support the [trial court’s] ultimate conclusions 

of law.” State v. Cooke, 306 N.C. 132, 134, 291 S.E.2d 618, 619 (1982). “Where no 

exception is taken to a finding of fact by the trial court, the finding is presumed to be 

supported by competent evidence and is binding on appeal.” State v. Miller, 243 N.C. 

App. 660, 663, 777 S.E.2d 337, 340 (2015). “While the trial court’s factual findings 
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are binding [on appeal] if sustained by the evidence, the [trial] court’s conclusions 

based thereon are reviewable de novo on appeal.” State v. Parker, 137 N.C. App. 590,

594, 530 S.E.2d 297, 300 (2000). 

¶ 13 Defendant does not challenge any of the Order’s findings of facts, and they are 

deemed to be supported by competent evidence and binding on appeal. See Miller, 

243 N.C. App. at 663, 777 S.E.2d at 340. Rather, Defendant challenges Conclusion 

of Law 5, and argues “the trial court erred by denying [his] motion to suppress 

because there was no reasonable articulable suspicion for the traffic stop.” 

Conclusion of Law 5 states:

The officer had reasonable articulable suspicion to stop the 

vehicle in question to ensure its compliance with N.C.G.S. 

§ 20-79.2.

¶ 14 The Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution protects individuals 

“against unreasonable searches and seizures[.]” U.S. Const. amend. IV. The North 

Carolina Constitution provides the same protection. N.C. Const. art. I, § 20; State v. 

Elder, 368 N.C. 70, 73, 773 S.E.2d 51, 53 (2015) (“Though Article I, Section 20 of the 

North Carolina Constitution contains different language, it provides the same 

protection against unreasonable searches and seizures [as the Fourth 

Amendment].”). A traffic stop is a seizure “even though the purpose of the stop is 

limited and the resulting detention quite brief.” Delaware v. Prouse, 440 U.S. 648, 

653, 59 L. Ed. 2d 660, 667 (1979). Consistent with the Fourth Amendment, “an officer 
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may . . . conduct a brief, investigatory stop when the officer has a reasonable, 

articulable suspicion that criminal activity is afoot.” Illinois v. Wardlow, 528 U.S. 

119, 123, 145 L. Ed. 2d 570, 576 (2000); see also State v. McClendon, 350 N.C. 630, 

636, 517 S.E.2d 128, 132 (1999). 

¶ 15 “Reasonable suspicion is a less demanding standard than probable cause and 

requires a showing considerably less than preponderance of the evidence.” State v. 

Barnard, 362 N.C. 244, 247, 658 S.E.2d 643, 645 (marks omitted), cert. denied, 555 

U.S. 914, 172 L. Ed. 2d 198 (2008). 

[Our Supreme Court] has determined that the reasonable 

suspicion standard requires that the stop be based on 

specific and articulable facts, as well as the rational 

inferences from those facts, as viewed through the eyes of 

a reasonable, cautious officer, guided by his experience and 

training. Moreover, a court must consider the totality of 

the circumstances–the whole picture in determining 

whether a reasonable suspicion exists.

Id. (citation and marks omitted). 

¶ 16 During the Motion to Suppress hearing, Officer Berry testified to the 

following:

[DEFENSE COUNSEL:] Can you tell us about what led up 

to you encountering [Defendant].

[OFFICER BERRY:] . . . . I noticed a car pull out in front of 

me coming from a parking lot to the left. . . . . 

And [as] soon as I saw him pull out, I remember looking to 

the left, and I know that’s the [trucking company] building 

which I knew it was late. There’s -- I mean, there’s no cars. 
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I know the office hours are closed, and it’s a trucking 

company. So that kind of raised my suspicion on why the 

vehicle is pulling out of there. . . . .

And then I got behind [the vehicle]. I actually had to slow 

down a little bit and my lights were on the tag, so I was 

able to type it in on NCIC. But before I typed it in, I 

noticed, I’ve never seen a plate like that on a car. I mean, 

I had seen it on trucks. It was TP-664 and so on, like 66462. 

And when I ran it, it came back to plates not assigned to 

vehicle. 

[DEFENSE COUNSEL:] And what does the TP mean in 

the TP66462?

[OFFICER BERRY:] At the time I was not -- I didn’t know 

if TP meant anything special or -- but I just -- my thought, 

theory through it was just came from a trucking company, 

I’ve seen those on trucks. I mean, it just raised my 

suspicion for it to be pulling out of there and the tag to be 

on that vehicle. 

[DEFENSE COUNSEL:] And you said the tags came back 

unassigned?

[OFFICER BERRY:] Correct, yes, sir. 

[DEFENSE COUNSEL:] Meaning that it was not assigned, 

the tag was not assigned to a particular vehicle?

[OFFICER BERRY:] Correct.

[DEFENSE COUNSEL:] The tag was not invalid?

[OFFICER BERRY:] It came back on my computer, and if 

it comes back not assigned, I’m under the impression it’s 

not valid, it’s . . .

[DEFENSE COUNSEL:] You’re under the impression that 

it’s not valid?
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[OFFICER BERRY:] Well, I’m saying like what I’m looking 

at on my computer is what it’s telling; do you know what 

I’m saying?

[DEFENSE COUNSEL:] So does your computer tell you 

that it was an invalid tag?

[OFFICER BERRY:] No, no, sir, no. It just said, plates not 

assigned to vehicle. I’m sorry, maybe I misunderstood. 

[DEFENSE COUNSEL:] And so the tag was not canceled?

[OFFICER BERRY:] It just said, plates not assigned to 

vehicle. That’s the only thing it told me. It didn’t say 

canceled, revoked, or anything of that, no, sir. 

[DEFENSE COUNSEL:] Okay, it didn’t say revoked?

[OFFICER BERRY:] No. The transport plate did not, no, 

sir. 

[DEFENSE COUNSEL:] And your computer would 

normally tell you if a tag is cancelled or --

[OFFICER BERRY:] Correct, if that tag was, yes, sir, 

correct.

[DEFENSE COUNSEL:] It wasn’t expired?

[OFFICER BERRY:] No, sir, not the plate, no. . . . .

[DEFENSE COUNSEL:] The tag wasn’t altered in any 

way?

[OFFICER BERRY:] No, sir. 

[DEFENSE COUNSEL:] The tag didn’t show suspended?

[OFFICER BERRY:] No, sir. 

[DEFENSE COUNSEL:] And it wasn’t canceled?
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[OFFICER BERRY:] No. Just plates not assigned to [a]

vehicle. 

. . . .

[DEFENSE COUNSEL:] And it was a valid North Carolina 

plate?

[OFFICER BERRY:] Like I said, sir, I’ve seen those tags on 

trucks. I’ve never seen them on a car, that’s why it brought 

my attention to it. When I ran it, it just came back plates 

not assigned to vehicle. 

. . . .

[DEFENSE COUNSEL:] And so, because the tag came 

back unassigned, you stopped the vehicle?

[OFFICER BERRY:] No, sir. It was included in my 

reasonable suspicion.

[DEFENSE COUNSEL:] Well, what else was included in 

your reasonable suspicion?

[OFFICER BERRY:] Well, when [the vehicle] pulled out of 

the closed business, like I said, [the vehicle] pulled out in 

front of me, and I noticed that I’ve seen those [transporter] 

tags on trucks before and [the vehicle] just pulled out of a 

trucking company, a business that I know to be closed at 

that time, okay. And we’ve had -- actually, it was exactly a 

month ago there was a stolen trailer on [Highway] 49.[4] I 

mean, I’m just including all of this into the fact that I 

thought that plate should not have been on that vehicle. 

Closed business. 

 

4 As Defendant does not challenge the trial court’s determination in Finding of Fact 3 

that the theft was “recent,” we do not address any issue related to the validity of such a 

characterization. 
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¶ 17 This testimony demonstrates Officer Berry’s purported reasonable articulable

suspicion of criminal activity was based on, inter alia, the fact that Officer Berry had 

never seen a transporter plate on a motor vehicle other than a truck before and 

believed transporter plates could not be used on regular motor vehicles. 

¶ 18 A transporter plate may be issued under the following circumstances:

The Division may issue a transporter plate authorizing the 

limited operation of a motor vehicle in the circumstances 

listed in this subsection. A person who receives a 

transporter plate must have proof of financial 

responsibility that meets the requirements of Article 9A of 

this Chapter. The person to whom a transporter plate may 

be issued and the circumstances in which the vehicle 

bearing the plate may be operated are as follows:

(1) To a business or a dealer to facilitate the manufacture, 

construction, rebuilding, or delivery of new or used truck 

cabs or bodies between manufacturer, dealer, seller, or 

purchaser. 

(2) To a financial institution that has a recorded lien on a 

motor vehicle to repossess the motor vehicle. 

(3) To a dealer or repair facility to pick up and deliver a 

motor vehicle that is to be repaired, is to undergo a safety 

or emissions inspection, or is to otherwise be prepared for 

sale by a dealer, to road-test the vehicle, if it is repaired or 

inspected within a 20-mile radius of the place where it is 

repaired or inspected, and to deliver the vehicle to the 

dealer. A repair facility may not receive more than two 

transporter plates for this purpose. 

(4) To a business that has at least 10 registered vehicles to 

move a motor vehicle that is owned by the business and is 

a replaced vehicle offered for sale.
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(5) To a dealer or a business that contracts with a dealer 

and has a business privilege license to take a motor vehicle 

either to or from a motor vehicle auction where the vehicle 

will be or was offered for sale. The title to the vehicle, a bill 

of sale, or written authorization from the dealer or auction 

must be inside the vehicle when the vehicle is operated 

with a transporter plate.

(6) To a business or dealer to road-test a repaired truck 

whose GVWR is at least 15,000 pounds when the test is 

performed within a 10-mile radius of the place where the 

truck was repaired and the truck is owned by a person who 

has a fleet of at least five trucks whose GVWRs are at least 

15,000 pounds and who maintains the place where the 

truck was repaired.

(7) To a business or dealer to move a mobile office, a mobile 

classroom, or a mobile or manufactured home, or to 

transport a newly manufactured travel trailer, fifth-wheel 

trailer, or camping trailer between a manufacturer and a 

dealer. Any transporter plate used under this subdivision 

may not be used on the power unit.

(8) To a business to drive a motor vehicle that is registered 

in this State and is at least 35 years old to and from a 

parade or another public event and to drive the motor 

vehicle in that event. A person who owns one of these 

motor vehicles is considered to be in the business of 

collecting those vehicles.

(9) To a dealer to drive a motor vehicle that is part of the 

inventory of a dealer to and from a motor vehicle trade 

show or exhibition or to, during, and from a parade in 

which the motor vehicle is used. 

(10) To drive special mobile equipment in any of the 

following circumstances:

a. From the manufacturer of the equipment to a facility of 

a dealer.
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b. From one facility of a dealer to another facility of a 

dealer.

c. From a dealer to the person who buys the equipment 

from the dealer.

N.C.G.S. § 20-79.2(a) (2019). Contrary to Officer Berry’s belief at the time of the 

traffic stop, the plain language of the statute indicates that transporter plates can be 

used on both trucks and motor vehicles. See id. We must decide whether Officer 

Berry’s genuine, but mistaken, belief that transporter plates could not be displayed 

on motor vehicles was reasonable and thus could be considered part of his reasonable 

articulable suspicion for the traffic stop. 

¶ 19 In Heien v. North Carolina, the United States Supreme Court distinguished 

between reasonable and unreasonable mistakes of law: “The Fourth Amendment 

tolerates only reasonable mistakes, and those mistakes–whether of fact or of law–

must be objectively reasonable. We do not examine the subjective understanding of 

the particular officer involved.” Heien v. North Carolina, 574 U.S. 54, 66, 190 L. Ed. 

2d 475, 486 (2014). In State v. Eldridge, we had the opportunity to apply Heien. See

State v. Eldridge, 249 N.C. App. 493, 497-500, 790 S.E.2d 740, 743-44 (2016). We 

held that “in order for an officer’s mistake of law while enforcing a statute to be 

objectively reasonable, the statute at issue must be ambiguous.” Id. at 499, 740 

S.E.2d at 743. 
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¶ 20 The text of N.C.G.S. § 20-79.2(a) is clear and unambiguous. Transporter plates

can be displayed on both cars and trucks, as the statute uses the phrase “motor 

vehicle” in the general sense. N.C.G.S. § 20-79.2(a) (2019). The requirements of the 

statute clearly apply to both cars and trucks and does not calculate into our

reasonable suspicion analysis of this traffic stop merely because the transporter plate

was displayed on a car.

¶ 21 The additional facts that the trucking company was closed and there was a 

recent trailer theft in the area are insufficient to support reasonable articulable 

suspicion, even when considered in totality. While similar factors have historically 

been cited in the totality of the circumstances analysis to help support establishment 

of reasonable articulable suspicion, they are insufficient in this context given the lack 

of other circumstances in this case. See Wardlow, 528 U.S. at 124, 145 L. Ed. 2d at

576 (marks omitted) (noting the United States Supreme Court has “previously noted 

the fact that the stop occurred in a high crime area among the relevant contextual 

considerations” in a reasonable suspicion analysis, and holding “it was not merely 

[the] respondent’s presence in [a high crime area] that aroused the officers’ suspicion,

but his unprovoked flight upon noticing the police”); State v. Fields, 195 N.C. App. 

740, 744, 673 S.E.2d 765, 768 (emphasis added) (“When determining if reasonable 

suspicion exists under the totality of the circumstances, a police officer may also 

evaluate factors such as traveling at an unusual hour . . . .”), disc. rev. denied, 363 
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N.C. 376, 679 S.E.2d 390 (2009); State v. Watkins, 337 N.C. 437, 442-43, 446 S.E.2d 

67, 70-71 (1994) (citing the business where the defendant’s vehicle was located being

closed as one factor to support reasonable articulable suspicion, in addition to the fact 

it was 3:00 a.m. and there was an anonymous tip that “a suspicious vehicle” was at 

the location). The totality of the circumstances indicates the vehicle was exiting the 

parking lot of a closed building where there were no other cars present, in an area 

where there was a recent trailer theft. These circumstances are insufficient to 

support the reasonable articulable suspicion necessary to allow a lawful traffic stop. 

See State v. Horton, 264 N.C. App. 711, 716, 723, 826 S.E.2d 770, 774, 779 (2019) 

(holding the fact that a defendant was in front of a closed building where there were 

no other cars present in an area where a business across the street experienced prior 

break-ins was insufficient to support an officer’s reasonable articulable suspicion). 

¶ 22 The Order states that Defendant’s vehicle displayed a transporter registration 

plate that came back as not assigned to any vehicle; the trucking company appeared 

to be closed as the office was dark and there were no other vehicles in the parking lot; 

and Officer Berry was aware of a recent trailer theft in the area. However, the trial 

court made no findings as to what activity by Defendant warranted Officer Berry’s 

suspicion. These circumstances, taken in their totality, were insufficient to support 

a reasonable articulable suspicion necessary to allow a lawful traffic stop. When 

coupled with the fact that the vehicle did not commit any traffic violations prior to 
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getting stopped, there exists insufficient findings that Defendant was committing, or 

about to commit, criminal activity. See Wardlow, 528 U.S. at 123, 145 L. Ed. 2d at 

576 (emphasis added) (“[A]n officer may . . . conduct a brief, investigatory stop when 

the officer has a reasonable, articulable suspicion that criminal activity is afoot.”). 

We hold the totality of the circumstances provided Officer Berry with nothing more 

than an “inchoate and unparticularized suspicion or hunch.”5 United States v. 

Sokolow, 490 U.S. 1, 7, 104 L. Ed. 2d 1, 10 (1989) (marks omitted).

¶ 23 As Officer Berry’s mistake of law was not objectively reasonable under the 

standard set out in Heien and Eldridge, no reasonable articulable suspicion existed 

to support the stop of Defendant’s vehicle. Accordingly, the trial court erred in 

denying Defendant’s Motion to Suppress. We reverse the trial court’s order denying 

the Motion to Suppress and remand to the trial court for entry of an order vacating 

Defendant’s guilty plea. See State v. Cottrell, 234 N.C. App. 736, 752, 760 S.E.2d 274, 

285 (2014) (“Because [the] defendant’s consent to search his car was the product of 

an unconstitutional seizure, the trial court erred in denying [the] defendant’s motion 

 

5 We further note the trial court’s fifth conclusion, to the extent it suggests Officer 

Berry could stop the vehicle to ascertain whether there was a statutory violation or not, is 

not compatible with our Fourth Amendment jurisprudence. Our caselaw establishes that an 

officer may stop a vehicle when there is a reasonable articulable suspicion that criminal 

activity, such as violating a statute, has occurred or is about to occur. The officer could not 

initiate a traffic stop without any reasonable articulable suspicion “to ensure its compliance” 

with a statute. 
STATE V. JONAS

2021-NCCOA-660

Opinion of the Court

to suppress. Accordingly, we reverse and remand to the trial court for entry of an 

order vacating [the] defendant’s guilty pleas.”). 

CONCLUSION

¶ 24 We have jurisdiction to hear the merits of Defendant’s appeal of his Motion to 

Suppress. Officer Berry’s mistake of law was not objectively reasonable because 

N.C.G.S. § 20-79.2 is unambiguous. The traffic stop was unconstitutional, and all

evidence seized from the traffic stop must be suppressed. We reverse the Order and 

remand to the trial court for entry of an order vacating Defendant’s guilty plea. 

REVERSED AND REMANDED.

Judges INMAN and HAMPSON concur.