State of Minnesota v. Devin Keith Barner, A16-700

On Oct. 8, 2015, an officer recognized Devin Barner driving a truck; the officer previously learned (1–2 weeks earlier) Barner’s driver’s license was suspended and warned him not to drive.
Officer stopped Barner, approached the vehicle, and asked (on squad-video audio) whether Barner had obtained a valid license; Barner’s audible response was not preserved in the record.
The officer arrested Barner for driving without a license without verifying current license records or securing an admission from Barner; a search incident to arrest uncovered plastic bags of drugs.
Barner moved to suppress the drugs, arguing the stop, arrest, and search were unconstitutional and violated Minn. R. Crim. P. 6.01; the district court suppressed the evidence, finding the arrest violated rule 6.01.
The State appealed the suppression order; the court found the stop supported by reasonable suspicion but held the arrest lacked probable cause and therefore was unconstitutional, requiring suppression of the seized evidence.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument (State)	Defendant's Argument (Barner)	Held
Whether the State may appeal a pretrial suppression order	Order has critical impact; appeal allowed	N/A	Allowed — court found critical impact and permitted appeal
Whether the traffic stop was lawful	Officer’s prior knowledge that Barner lacked a license gave reasonable suspicion to stop	Stop was unjustified and unconstitutional	Stop lawful — reasonable, articulable suspicion existed
Whether officer had probable cause to arrest without warrant	Officer reasonably believed misdemeanor (driving without license) was committed, justifying arrest	Arrest lacked verification; no probable cause absent admission or records check	Arrest unconstitutional — no probable cause; prior knowledge alone insufficient
Whether evidence seized incident to arrest must be suppressed	Arrest was lawful (or rule 6.01 allowed arrest), so search and seizure valid	Search incident to unconstitutional arrest must be suppressed	Evidence suppressed — search incident to unlawful arrest cannot be justified

State v. McLeod, 705 N.W.2d 776 (Minn. 2005) (standard for state appeal of pretrial orders requiring critical impact)
State v. Anderson, 683 N.W.2d 818 (Minn. 2004) (pretrial-appeal critical-impact framework)
State v. Richardson, 622 N.W.2d 823 (Minn. 2001) (pretrial appeal principles)
Illinois v. Wardlow, 528 U.S. 119 (2000) (reasonable, articulable suspicion required for investigatory stops)
State v. Timberlake, 744 N.W.2d 390 (Minn. 2008) (applying Terry standard to traffic stops, including minor-law violations)
State v. Wynne, 552 N.W.2d 218 (Minn. 1996) (probable cause standard for arrests)
Rios v. United States, 364 U.S. 253 (1960) (fruits of an unlawful arrest cannot justify that arrest or an ensuing search)
State v. Richmond, 602 N.W.2d 647 (Minn. App. 1999) (officer may arrest for misdemeanors committed in officer’s presence)
State v. Harris, 590 N.W.2d 90 (Minn. 1999) (evidence seized following unconstitutional arrest must be suppressed)