The Minnesota DWI Case Of The Week is Robinson v. Commissioner of Public Safety (Decided June 18, 2018, Minnesota Court of Appeals, Unpublished) which stands for the proposition that the current Court will affirm just about any vehicle stop.
In Robinson, Officer Donahue of the Edina Police Department was on routine patrol in the area of Edina High School and Valley View Middle School. At approximately 12:55 a.m., while conducting a directed patrol of the area, Officer Donahue pulled into the east entrance of the parking lot to the west of Valley View Middle School. As he entered the parking lot, Officer Donahue observed a dark passenger car drive by the western edge of the parking lot the officer had just entered, and drive out the west entrance. The vehicle's lights were on, and the road the vehicle was driving on encircles the schools and connects all of the school parking lots. Officer Donahue testified that "there was a large construction site near that part of the school where the vehicle came out.
At the time Officer Donahue saw the vehicle, there were no other cars in the area and the lights in the high school were off; the school appeared closed. Officer Donahue testified that he found the vehicle's presence suspicious because it was late, the high school was closed, and there was a construction site at the high school near where the vehicle was located. Officer Donahue has worked for the Edina Police Department for about two years and has been a licensed peace officer in Minnesota for about nine years, and in Officer Donahue's training and experience, "construction sites are often sought out by thieves for theft and damage-related crimes." The district court found Officer Donahue's testimony credible.
After observing the vehicle, Officer Donahue followed it. Officer Donahue saw the vehicle cross Valley View Road onto Chapel Lane, where he caught up to it and ran a license plate check, which showed that a lease company owned the vehicle and that the lessee lived on the 5500 block of Goya Lane. Goya Lane is approximately one mile north of Edina High School.
Officer Donahue continued following the vehicle and thought that the route taken by the vehicle was suspicious because it was not the most direct route from the school to the address on Goya Lane. Robinson crossed Valley View Road, drove along several residential streets to the south of Valley View Road, and then turned onto Valley View Road. Officer Donahue initiated a traffic stop on Valley View Road, the vehicle stopped almost immediately, and Officer Donahue identified Robinson as the driver. From when Officer Donahue first observed the vehicle, until he stopped it on Valley View Road, he did not observe any traffic or equipment violations, inappropriate, unusual, or unlawful driving, and found no outstanding warrants.
Mr. Robinson was subsequently arrested for DWI and tested at .10% BAC at the police station. Mr Robinson filed a challenge to the license revocation alleging the officer did not have a sufficient basis for the stop. The district court upheld the revocation and on appeal, the Minnesota Court of Appeals affirmed, stating:
"Officer Donahue had a particularized and objective basis to stop Robinson. Robinson was driving on school grounds around 1:00 a.m., near a construction site at the high school, when the school was closed. He was driving on a road that encircled both schools and does not provide access to anywhere other than the schools, their parking lots, and the construction site at the high school—the road is more akin to a driveway than to a public thru-street. And when Robinson drove out of the school area, he drove across a main road, through several residential roads, only to return to the main road—which he could have turned directly on to as he left the school area. Standing alone, each individual fact may not be sufficient to support reasonable suspicion of wrongdoing. But viewed together, and through the eyes of Officer Donahue's experience and training that construction sites are often targeted for theft and vandalism crimes, Officer Donahue had a particularized and objective basis for an investigatory stop."
Yikes!
Moral Of The Story: If you have been drinking, do not go to school!
If you or a loved one have been charged with a Minnesota DWI, feel free to contact Minnesota DWI Attorney, F. T. Sessoms at (612) 344-1505 for answers to all of your Minnesota DWI and DUI questions.
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