## Facts

- Detective Jerry Davis, a Washington, North Carolina police detective, went with other officers to a bowling alley after receiving generalized information about drug activity there.
- Davis knew Jimmie “PooSack” Sinclair from prior contacts and had previously searched him twice in the prior weeks without any resulting charges.
- Davis arrived in an unmarked car, wore civilian clothing with an embroidered police badge, and approached Sinclair outside the bowling alley where several people were present.
- Davis addressed Sinclair by name and said, “PooSack, let me talk to you.”
- Sinclair stood and stepped toward Davis, asked calmly whether Davis wanted to search him again, and Davis answered “Yes, sir.”
- Sinclair then put his hands into his pockets and removed them, made fists, took a defensive stance, said “Nope,” and ran.
- Officers chased and apprehended Sinclair; a bag of cocaine was reportedly found along the route of his flight.
- Sinclair was convicted at trial of resisting a public officer and possession with intent to sell or deliver cocaine, and he later pled guilty to habitual felon status.
- On appeal, Sinclair challenged the denial of his motion to dismiss the resisting-a-public-officer charge for insufficiency of the evidence.

## Issues

1. Whether sufficient evidence supported a conviction under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-223 when the officer’s initial approach was a consensual encounter and Sinclair fled after the officer indicated he wanted to search him.
2. Whether the officer was “discharging or attempting to discharge a duty of his office” at the time of flight, including whether reasonable suspicion existed to justify an investigative detention.

## Decision

- The court reversed the resisting-a-public-officer conviction for insufficiency of the evidence.
- The court held the initial interaction was a consensual encounter, not a seizure.
- The court concluded the officers lacked reasonable suspicion to detain Sinclair at the moment he ran.
- Because Sinclair was free to terminate a consensual encounter, his flight did not constitute resisting, delaying, or obstructing an officer engaged in a lawful duty under § 14-223.

## Legal Principles

- To prove resisting a public officer under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-223, the State must show: (1) the victim was a public officer; (2) the defendant resisted, delayed, or obstructed the officer; and (3) the officer was discharging or attempting to discharge a duty of his office at the time.
- A consensual police-citizen encounter occurs when a reasonable person would feel free to decline requests or terminate the interaction; absent a command, physical restraint, or other coercive conduct, the contact may remain consensual.
- Terminating a consensual encounter, including by walking or running away, does not by itself satisfy § 14-223 when police lack a lawful basis (such as reasonable suspicion) to detain.
- On a motion to dismiss for insufficiency, evidence is viewed in the light most favorable to the State, but the State must still present substantial evidence of each element, including lawful discharge of duty.

## Conclusion

The court reversed the resisting-a-public-officer conviction because the officer’s approach and request to talk and search did not amount to a lawful detention, and Sinclair’s flight from a consensual encounter could not support liability under § 14-223 absent reasonable suspicion or another lawful basis to seize him.


State v. Sinclair, 191 N.C. App. 485, 663 S.E.2d 866 (N.C. Ct. App. 2008)