State v. Sprague2/21/2003
The questions we address in this appeal are whether a reasonable person in defendant's position would have felt free to refuse a state trooper's request that he exit his vehicle, and whether a police officer may automatically order a driver to exit a vehicle following a routine traffic stop. We hold that the record evidence here did not support a finding that defendant voluntarily exited his vehicle. We further hold that a police officer must have a reasonable basis to believe that the officer's safety, or the safety of others, is at risk or that a crime has been committed before ordering a driver out of a stopped vehicle. Finding no basis for the exit order in the circumstances of this case involving a routine traffic stop for a speeding violation, we conclude that the trial court erred in denying defendant's motion to suppress and therefore that the judgment must be reversed.
2. The record evidence reveals the following. On October 3, 2000, at approximately 3:30 p.m., a state trooper operating a radar device on Route 91 in the Town of Rockingham clocked a vehicle traveling at a rate of *125 seventy-nine miles per hour. Nothing in the record suggests that the officer observed any indicia of drunk driving, or any other offense or traffic violation, other than speeding. The trooper followed the car in his cruiser, activated his blue lights, and parked behind the car after it had stopped on the paved shoulder of the highway. A police videotape of the **542 events that followed, which was also transcribed, shows that the uniformed officer approached the driver's side of the car and asked the driver, "can I see your license and registration, please?" The driver, later identified as defendant, handed these to the officer through the car window. The officer asked defendant several additional questions concerning the reason for the stop, and defendant indicated that he was running late to pick up his son. The officer then said, "you mind having a seat in my car while I check your license, please?" Defendant, in response, exited the vehicle and started walking with the officer toward the police cruiser.
3. As they approached the cruiser, the officer asked defendant whether he had "any weapons, knives, sharp anything like that in your pocket? Would you mind showing me what you have, quick, before you get in my car?" Defendant thereupon emptied his pockets, revealing a small packet which, in response to additional questioning, he acknowledged contained marijuana. Under further questioning, defendant also acknowledged that he possessed "a pipe and bag." The officer proceeded to pat down defendant, found a prescription bottle which defendant indicated was for "panic attacks," and entered the cruiser with defendant. Once inside, the officer questioned defendant further about his marijuana use, work, and other subjects. At one point, the officer reassured defendant, "you're not going to end up in jail; you're going to drive away from here, okay?"
4. After several minutes, the officer completed writing up the ticket, returned defendant's license, and announced, "Okay, this's done and over with, Jon." The officer then indicated that he wanted to "just take a quick peek in the car," and addressed defendant as follows:
What I'm going to do is just--from this point forward, Jon, it behooves you to be a hundred percent honest with me, okay? I'm not going to pull any fast ones with you or anything like that, I'm an up-front kind of guy. Okay?
What I want to do is take a peek at what you have in the vehicle, okay? And I wouldn't mind going to your house and taking a peek there, okay? Because based on what we've *126 discovered right now, is people who smoke dope carry dope with you and they have dope at their house; okay?
Now, I can go t
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