Background

• May 25, 2008, around 1:00 a.m., Estherville police stopped a car after a U-turn on Central Ave they believed violated a local ordinance.
• Officers thought the driver, Louwrens, was intoxicated; she failed sobriety tests and was taken for breath testing showing BAC above the limit.
• Stipulated facts: the Estherville No U-turn ordinance was unenforceable due to lack of signage; state signage requirement (Iowa Code 321.237) did not apply to local prohibition as pleaded by the State.
• District court suppressed all evidence from the stop, finding the officers’ mistake of law could not supply probable cause.
• State sought discretionary review; the question presented is whether a mistake of law by an officer can provide probable cause for a traffic stop.
• Court held that a mistake of law cannot provide probable cause for a traffic stop and affirmed the suppression.

Issues

Key Cases Cited

• Kinkead v. State, 570 N.W.2d 97 (Iowa 1997) (probable cause and reasonable stop standard under Fourth Amendment)
• Tagne, 676 N.W.2d 197 (Iowa 2004) (stop for traffic violation requires probable cause by state)
• Lloyd, 701 N.W.2d 680 (Iowa 2005) (de novo review of totality of circumstances in Fourth Amendment claims)
• Delfin-Colina, 464 F.3d 392 (3d Cir. 2006) (meets objective grounding; mistake of law vs fact distinctions discussed)
• Chanthasouxat v. United States, 342 F.3d 1271 (11th Cir. 2003) (mistake of law generally not objectively reasonable for stop)
• Miller v. United States, 146 F.3d 274 (5th Cir. 1998) (mistake-of-law-based stop not objectively grounded)