United States v. Larry Reginald Cartledge

SPROUSE, Circuit Judge:

Larry Cartledge was indicted for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(1) and 924(a). A North Carolina highway patrolman had stopped Cartledge’s car for a seat belt violation and, after a consensual search, found the involved weapon — a handgun. On Cartledge’s motion and after a hearing, the district court ordered that the evidence of the seat belt violation be suppressed, holding that a North Carolina statute prohibited the introduction of evidence of failure to wear a seat belt in collateral proceedings, thus constituting a…