State v. Branch

ELMORE, Judge.

On 11 October 2005 the United States Supreme Court vacated this Court’s 17 February 2004 opinion in State v. Branch, 162 N.C. App. 707, 591 S.E.2d 923 (2004), and remanded the matter to this Court for further consideration in light of the decision in Illinois v. Caballes, 543 U.S. 405, 160 L. Ed. 2d 842 (2005). See North Carolina v. Branch, 126 S. Ct. 411, 163 L. Ed. 2d 314 (2005). At the direction of the Supreme Court, we now undertake that review.

The facts of this case have been laid out in our prior opinion, but we will restate those applicable to this review. On 4 November…