Monday, October 24, 2016

Minneapolis DWI Attorney Blogs on Minnesota DWI: This Week's Featured Minnesota DWI Case

The Minnesota DWI Case Of The Week is State v. Smith (Decided October 24, 2016, Minnesota Court of Appeals, Unpublished) which stands for the proposition that the police do not have to PROVE you were speeding in order to justify a vehicle stop. The officer just has to "believe" you were speeding. Yikes!

In Smith, Officer Robert Weir of the St. Paul Police Department had just completed an unrelated traffic stop when he observed the Defendant's vehicle.  Officer Weir visually estimated that the Defendant's car was traveling at 45 miles per hour in a 30-miles-per-hour zone.  Officer Weir then followed the vehicle and noted that when his squad car reached a speed of 40 mph, he still was not gaining on the Defendant's vehicle.  The officer then stopped the Defendant and Mr. Smith was subsequently arrested for DWI.

The Defendant moved to suppress all of the evidence arguing in the district court that the stop was illegal.  At the district court hearing, Officer Weier testified that he had been trained in visual estimation of vehicle speeds and could visually estimate speed to within five miles per hour. Appellant testified that he had been driving under the speed limit and argued that the squad video, coupled with mathematical computations concerning time and distance, proves that he was not speeding before the stop. The district court denied appellant's motion to suppress, relying on Sergeant Weier's testimony to conclude that the stop was supported by reasonable and articulable suspicion.

On appeal, the Minnesota Court of Appeals affirmed the district court, stating:

"Here, appellant argues that Sergeant Weier mistakenly determined appellant to have been driving 45 miles per hour: a mistake of fact. A mistake of fact does not invalidate a traffic stop so long as that mistake is reasonable. See State v. Johnson, 392 NW.2d 685, 687 (Minn. App. 1986) (holding that mistaken identity did not render a stop invalid). An officer who visually estimates the excessive speed of a car, and is able to corroborate his estimate by following that car, has a reasonable and articulable suspicion of a traffic violation. Even if appellant can now demonstrate that he was not speeding (which we need not determine for reasonable-suspicion purposes), Sergeant Weier's suspicion that appellant was speeding was reasonable and sufficient to support a stop."

The problem with today's ruling by the Minnesota Court of Appeals is this, how can the officer's mistake be "reasonable" if the scientific evidence shows the officer was wrong?  Police are human and some of them lie to justify their actions.  When science shows the police officer 's claim is untrue the Courts should act to protect a citizen's right to be left alone.

MORAL OF THE STORY: If you have been drinking, don't even think about speeding!!

If you or a loved one have been arrested for a Minnesota DWI, feel free to contact Minneapolis DWI Attorney, F. T. Sessoms at (612) 344-1505 for answers to all of your Minnesota DWI questions.

Monday, October 17, 2016

Minneapolis DWI Lawyer Blogs on Minnesota DWI: This Week's Featured Minnesota DWI Case

The Minnesota DWI Case Of The Week Is State v. DeRoche (Decided October 17, 2016, Minnesota Court of Appeals, Unpublished), which stands for the proposition that just about any suspicion by a police officer will be deemed "reasonable" to justify a stop of a motor vehicle.

In DeRoche, the police officer observed appellant driving his vehicle in the early morning hours on a frontage road in a commercial area near a trailer dealership. The officer was aware that the trailer dealership had been burglarized in the past one or two months, and other commercial properties in the area had experienced thefts. The officer observed appellant drive from the frontage road onto a private driveway, 10-15 feet past a sign reading "Private Property. No Trespassing." The vacant property, which occasionally hosts a flea market, is adjacent to the trailer dealership. Appellant's vehicle sat in the driveway for one to two minutes. The area was dark and unlit. When the officer approached in a marked squad to investigate, appellant backed out of the private drive to turn around, and the officer stopped appellant. 

The district court upheld the validity of the stop and on appeal, the Minnesota Court of Appeals agreed, stating:

"Based on these circumstances and rational inferences drawn from them, an officer could reasonably suspect appellant of committing property crimes of nearby businesses. This reasonable suspicion justified the officer's stop of appellant's vehicle."

Seriously?

At least Justice Ross had the good sense to dissent from the majority decision as he correctly notes:

"Reasonable suspicion is a low standard. But it is a standard of some degree. If driving briefly just onto a vacant lot somewhere near a different lot where a theft occurred "maybe a month or two" earlier allows police to force a stop for a police investigation, then the standard is virtually meaningless. I respectfully dissent because we must distinguish between a mere "hunch" (undeveloped, vague speculation), which can never justify a police stop, and reasonable, articulable suspicion that a crime has occurred or is about to occur, which does justify a police stop. This is a pure-hunch case."

MORAL OF THE STORY: If you are out late at night, don't get lost as you are likely to be pulled over by the police!



If you or a loved one have been arrested for a Minnesota DWI, feel free to contact Minneapolis DWI Lawyer, F. T. Sessoms at (612) 344-1505 for answers to all of your Minnesota DWI questions.