State v. Hess
- Police Officer made an investigatory stop. Officer stopped defendants Ponitac after running the license plate. The license plate comes back fine. The officer subsequently checked the registered owners drivers license status. The drivers license status showed that the owners drivers license was suspended.
- The officer stops the vehicle even without confirming the race/sex of the driver.
- Defendant tried to suppress the evidence as an illegal stop because the defendant argued that the officer did not know if the driver was the registered owner.
- Court ruled in favor of the officer saying that the officer had reasonable suspicion to stop the vehicle because it was reasonable for the officer to believe that the registered owner was the driver.
*Obviously if you can confirm the driver is of the opposite sex/race of the owner before the stop this won't apply.
- Police Officer made an investigatory stop. Officer stopped defendants Ponitac after running the license plate. The license plate comes back fine. The officer subsequently checked the registered owners drivers license status. The drivers license status showed that the owners drivers license was suspended.
- The officer stops the vehicle even without confirming the race/sex of the driver.
- Defendant tried to suppress the evidence as an illegal stop because the defendant argued that the officer did not know if the driver was the registered owner.
- Court ruled in favor of the officer saying that the officer had reasonable suspicion to stop the vehicle because it was reasonable for the officer to believe that the registered owner was the driver.
*Obviously if you can confirm the driver is of the opposite sex/race of the owner before the stop this won't apply.
Comment