Minnesota DWI Attorney F. T. Sessoms Blogs on Minnesota DWI: This Week's Featured Minnesota DWI Case

The Minnesota DWI Case Of The Week is State v. Johnson (Decided October 28, 2019, Minnesota Court of Appeals, Unpublished) which stands for the proposition that police officers are very suspicious people.

In Johnson, the Defendant was stopped because his pickup had a non-functioning tail-light.  The deputy’s body camera recorded the events following the traffic stop. The deputy observed the Defendant exhibiting erratic behaviors and acting nervous. Specifically, the Defendant was making “weird movements” inside of his truck and looking away. The deputy characterized these nervous behaviors to be beyond those expected to occur during a routine traffic stop.

From a distance of less than five feet, the deputy saw that Defendant's pupils were abnormally constricted. The deputy directed his flashlight into the truck, but moved the light away from Defendant's face and confirmed Defendant's pupils were still constricted when the light was absent, suggesting to the deputy that Defendant was under the influence of a controlled substance.

After having the Defendant perform some field sobriety tests, the deputy placed Defendant under arrest and obtained a search warrant to obtain a sample of the Defendant's blood or urine.  The Defendant refused to submit to testing and was charged with DWI Refusal.

The Defendant subsequently moved to dismiss the charge and suppress all of the evidence obtained after the initial stop. The Defendant argued that the officer illegally expanded the traffic stop into an investigation of DWI without sufficient cause to do so.

The District Court denied the Defendant's motions and on appeal, the Minnesota Court of Appeals affirmed, noting:

"...an officer may expand a traffic stop if the incremental intrusion is tied to and justified by “(1) the original legitimate purpose of the stop, (2) independent probable cause, or (3) reasonableness, as defined in Terry. State v. Askerooth, 681 N.W.2d 353, 365 (Minn. 2004). Reasonable, articulable suspicion requires that the officer identify “specific and articulable facts which, taken together with rational inferences from those facts, reasonably warrant that intrusion.” Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 21, 88 S. Ct. 1868, 1880 (1968). The reasonable, articulable suspicion standard is satisfied when an officer observes conduct that leads him to reasonably conclude, based on his experience, that “criminal activity may be afoot.” 

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"The deputy observed that appellant exhibited signs of being under the influence of a controlled substance. Specifically, appellant exhibited erratic behaviors, acted very nervous, moved around his vehicle, did not make eye contact, and had abnormally constricted pupils. While nervousness alone is not sufficient to support the expansion of a stop, nervousness coupled with other “particularized and objective facts” may provide reasonable articulable suspicion. State v. Syhavong, 661 N.W.2d 278, 282 (Minn. App. 2003). Moreover, signs of being under the influence of a controlled substance are considered and may provide a police officer with specific and articulable facts to support an expansion of the stop. See State v. Hegstrom, 543 N.W.2d 698, 702 (Minn. App. 1996) (considering “the observed symptoms of some type of intoxication, particularly the severely constricted pupils” as a factor in establishing probable cause to believe driver was under the influence of a controlled substance). Appellant’s nervousness coupled with his constricted pupils, a recognized sign of intoxication, formed a reasonable basis for the deputy to believe appellant was under the influence of a controlled substance, and justified his expansion of the scope of the traffic stop."

Moral Of The Story:  When you get stopped by someone with a gun, try to stay calm.

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