{"id":16299,"date":"2026-02-21T18:37:05","date_gmt":"2026-02-21T23:37:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.carolinaattorneys.com\/blog\/?p=16299"},"modified":"2026-02-23T19:14:53","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T00:14:53","slug":"dwi-probable-cause-north-carolina","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.carolinaattorneys.com\/blog\/dwi-probable-cause-north-carolina\/","title":{"rendered":"DWI Probable Cause North Carolina 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

The North Carolina Court of Appeals filed <\/span>State v. Alston<\/span><\/i>, No. COA25-291, on February 18, 2026, resolving an appeal arising from a driving-while-impaired conviction entered upon an Alford plea in Alamance County Superior Court. The opinion addresses two distinct issues that arise regularly in DWI defense practice:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. What the totality-of-the-circumstances standard actually demands when a defendant challenges the facial validity of a probable cause determination based on officer observations?<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. What appellate rights survive when a defendant enters a guilty or Alford plea without first cataloguing every intended issue to preserve?<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
    Continue reading<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The North Carolina Court of Appeals filed State v. Alston, No. COA25-291, on February 18, 2026, resolving an appeal arising from a driving-while-impaired conviction entered upon an Alford plea in Alamance County Superior Court. The opinion addresses two distinct issues that arise regularly in DWI defense practice: What the totality-of-the-circumstances standard actually demands when a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":16307,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[90],"tags":[3043,3044,3045,3046,3047,3048,3049,3050,3051,1210,3052,3053,3054,3055,3056,3058,3057,3059,3060,3061,3062,3063,3064],"class_list":["post-16299","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dui","tag-alford-plea-appeal-rights-nc","tag-appreciably-impaired-standard-nc","tag-dwi-arrest-probable-cause-nc","tag-dwi-bodycam-evidence-nc","tag-dwi-motion-to-suppress-nc-2026","tag-dwi-probable-cause-north-carolina","tag-dwi-suppression-hearing-nc","tag-findings-of-fact-suppression-nc","tag-guilty-plea-appeal-rights-nc","tag-impaired-driving-nc","tag-motion-in-limine-after-guilty-plea-nc","tag-motion-to-suppress-dwi-nc","tag-nc-court-of-appeals-dwi-2026","tag-nc-criminal-appeals-dwi","tag-nc-dwi-defense-2026","tag-nc-gen-stat-15a-1444","tag-nc-gen-stat-15a-979","tag-nc-gen-stat-20-138-1","tag-north-carolina-dwi-law-2026","tag-probable-cause-dwi-officer-observations-nc","tag-state-v-alston-2026","tag-totality-of-circumstances-dwi-nc","tag-writ-of-certiorari-after-guilty-plea-nc"],"yoast_head":"\nDWI Probable Cause North Carolina 2026<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"State v. Alston examines DWI probable cause in North Carolina, officer observations, and what appeal rights survive after a guilty plea.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.carolinaattorneys.com\/blog\/dwi-probable-cause-north-carolina\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"DWI Probable Cause North Carolina 2026\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"State v. 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