§ 9.02 Arrests: Common Law and Statutory Arrest Rules

• Jurisdiction: North Carolina

§ 9.02 Arrests: Common Law and Statutory Arrest Rules

At common law, a police officer could not arrest a person for an offense unless the officer had reasonable grounds to believe that a crime had been committed and that the person to be arrested committed it.⁸ The common law term "reasonable grounds" is equivalent to the constitutional term "probable cause."⁹

Today, most statutes¹⁰ provide that the police may make a felony arrest without a warrant. However, a warrant is required for a misdemeanor arrest unless the offense occurs in the officer's presence.¹¹ Furthermore, warrantless arrests in some circumstances are unconstitutional, notwithstanding common law and statutory precedent.¹²

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Notes:

^[8] See generally Joshua Dressler, Understanding Criminal Law § 21.02[A][1] (6th ed. 2012).

^[9] Draper v. United States, 358 U.S. 307, 310 n.3 (1959).

^[10] See, e.g., Cal. Penal Code § 836 (2012).

^[11] For the common law meaning of the phrase "in the presence," see 3 Wayne R. LaFave, Search and Seizure § 5.1(c) (4th ed. 2004).

^[12] See generally § 9.05, infra.