Partial Blocking Not Seizure

Westerham  v.  Commissioner

An officer received a report of a possible intoxicated person sitting in a vehicle in a bar parking lot.  The officer arrived in a crowded lot and parked close to the defendant’s vehicle, making it difficult, but not impossible for the vehicle to be backed out of the parking spot.  The officer did not activate his lights or give any other signal.  The Court affirms the District Court finding that the officer did not seize the driver of the vehicle and sustains the revocation of driving privileges resulting from the incident.

Second Detention

State  v.  Kellum

Defendant was a passenger in a vehicle that had been legally stopped. An officer smelled marijuana in the vehicle and found marijuana on the defendant’s person, and defendant was cited for possession of marijuana. Defendant was evasive when asked if he was staying in a nearby hotel. A key fob for a motel room was found in the squad car where the defendant was sitting.  The Court finds a sufficient articulable  suspicion to justify a brief additional detention to explore defendant’s connection with the motel known from drug activity.

Stop-Suspended Object

State  v.   Wruck

The Court affirms a District Court order finding that an officer saw a suspended object between the driver and the windshield, a radar detector attached to the windshield with suction cups, rejecting defendant’s argument that the officer could not have seen the object.

Requesting ID Not Seizure

State  v.  Pracht

An officer responded to a tip that some individuals were attempting to sell large quantities of new electronic equipment at a store that buys and sells such items. The officer went to the store, approached the defendant who fit the description, requested identification and asked some general questions. The Court finds that this encounter was not a seizure where the officer stood at a socially acceptable distance from the defendant and did not use any course of tone or behavior.

Illegal Seizure-No Suppresion

State  v.   Bettin

Police lawfully stopped a vehicle and arrested the driver.  The Defendant, a passenger. was seized by retaining her identification and her purse.  The Court indicates that this seizure was unlawful.  However, no evidence was recovered as a result of this seizure.  The drug evidence was recovered as a result of the lawful search of the car, independent of the defendant’s seizure.  The defendant’s conviction for fifth degree possission of a controlled substance is affirmed.

Speeding-Officer Opinion

State  v.  Holm

In a DWI case, the defense challenged the basis for the stop, asserting that there was no evidence of the testing of the radar.  The Court acknowledges that the radar evidence may have been inadmissible without the evidence about testing, but finds that the officer’s opinion based upon his training that the vehicle was speeding was sufficient to justify the stop.

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