 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
State v. Gutierrez7/10/2002
ended the detention so as to taint Cheek's consent to the search of his vehicle. We note that the State does not contend, and the facts would not support a finding, that Officer Bunderson possessed reasonable suspicion that would justify a detention to investigate any offense other than the speeding offense that motivated the initial stop.
The United States Supreme Court has stated that an investigative detention "must be temporary and last no longer than is necessary to effectuate the purpose of the stop." Royer, 460 U.S. at 500. See also State v. Goodwin, 121 Idaho 491, 501, 826 P.2d 452, 462 (1992); Martinez, 136 Idaho at 440-41, 34 P.3d at 1123-24. An individual "may not be detained even momentarily without reasonable, objective grounds for doing so." Royer, 460 U.S. at 498.
The situation here is similar to the circumstance presented in United States v. Guzman, 864 F.2d 1512 (10th Cir. 1988), overruled on other grounds by U.S. v. Botero-Ospina, 71 F.3d 783, 787 (10th Cir. 1995), where a state police officer stopped a car because the driver was not wearing a seatbelt, a violation of the state's traffic regulations. After reviewing the driver's operator license and a rental agreement on the car, and finding both in order, the officer began questioning the motorist and his passenger to determine whether they were hauling contraband. The officer eventually gave the driver a written warning for the seatbelt violation and returned the rental agreement and driver's license, but without advising the driver that he was free to go, the officer began asking whether the vehicle occupants were carrying weapons or contraband. The driver replied that they were not hiding anything and that the officer was free to look, whereupon a search was conducted that yielded $5,000 in cash and a package of cocaine. The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals held that the officer had unlawfully extended the duration of the stop. Id. at 1519-20. The court stated, "Although the stop in this case may well have been of short duration, it nevertheless unreasonably extended beyond the length necessary for its only legitimate purpose--the issuance of a warning or citation for a seatbelt violation." Id., n.8. In accord is United States v. Valadez, 267 F.3d 395 (5th Cir. 2001), where a driver was stopped on suspicion of an expired vehicle registration sticker and illegal window tinting. The court held that continued detention of the driver after the officer had determined that the registration sticker was valid and the window tinting legal, in order to await results of a computer check on outstanding warrants and the driver's criminal history without any reasonable suspicion to support such an inquiry, violated the driver's Fourth Amendment rights. The court held that " urther detention was not lawful after the point at which the purposes of the stop was resolved." Id. at 398.
We reach a like conclusion in the present case. The original purpose for the detention of Cheek and his passengers was to issue a warning or citation for speeding, and that purpose was accomplished when Officer Bunderson issued the warning. The continued detention thereafter to question Cheek about drugs, alcohol and weapons cannot be justified as part of the traffic stop. Although the duration of this questioning was relatively short, lasting sixty to ninety seconds, it was nonetheless an unwarranted intrusion upon the vehicle occupants' privacy and liberty. Heeding the Supreme Court's caution that an individual "may not be detained even momentarily without reasonable, objective grounds for doing so," Royer, 460 U.S. at 498, we conclude that the detention of Cheek and his passengers beyond the point when the warning was issued was unlawful. Therefore
Page 1 2 3 4 5 Idaho DUI Attorneys
DUI Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|