STATE OF NEW JERSEY VS. JENNIFER R. WIGGINS(15-01-0010, CUMBERLAND COUNTY AND STATEWIDE), A-1487-15T1

Background

Shortly before midnight on Sept. 2, 2013, Officer Ozdemir observed a Honda Accord with a nonworking high‑mounted center brake light and stopped the vehicle to notify the driver as a community‑caretaking action.
As he approached (passenger side), he saw a front‑seat passenger hand a bag of green vegetation to a rear passenger; he then smelled burnt marijuana and observed bloodshot eyes.
Backup arrived; officers seized marijuana, found and seized one handgun and crack cocaine from a patted‑down passenger, and later located a second handgun under the front passenger seat. A subsequent warrant search yielded additional bullets and drugs.
Defendant Jennifer Wiggins moved to suppress the evidence from the stop; the trial court denied the motion, crediting the officer’s community‑caretaking justification and finding the stop not pretextual.
Wiggins pleaded guilty to two counts of second‑degree unlawful possession of a weapon and fourth‑degree possession of marijuana and was sentenced to an aggregate five years with 42 months parole ineligibility. She appealed denial of suppression and (for the first time) argued statutory amnesty barred conviction.
The Appellate Division affirmed: it upheld the stop under the community‑caretaking exception and rejected Wiggins’ claim that the 2013 amnesty statute applied to her possession.

Issues

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the vehicle stop was a lawful community‑caretaking stop	Officer lawfully stopped vehicle to inform driver of nonworking center brake light; stop was objectively reasonable and not pretextual	Stop was an unlawful seizure; community‑caretaking exception did not apply	Held: Stop was lawful under community‑caretaking; trial court credibility findings deferred to
Whether officer exceeded scope of caretaking stop by requesting credentials and investigating further	Plain view of handoff of bag (and odor of marijuana) supplied a crime‑related basis to continue investigation	Continuation transformed caretaking stop into investigatory stop beyond its scope	Held: Scope expansion was justified by plain‑view observation of suspected contraband
Whether a reasonable mistake of law (about legality of center brake light) could justify the stop	State later advanced reasonable‑mistake‑of‑law theory (Heien) as alternative ground	N/A at trial; argued stop unjustified because center light not yet required by law	Held: Court did not reach issue because community‑caretaking rationale sufficed
Whether 2013 amnesty statute shielded defendant from prosecution for firearm possession	State: statute only protected persons possessing handguns on statute’s effective date who complied with notice/surrender requirements; not an element of offense	Wiggins: amnesty statute (L.2013, c.117) applied and barred her conviction	Held: Defendant failed to prove she possessed guns on effective date or complied with amnesty requirements; statute did not bar conviction

Key Cases Cited

Cady v. Dombrowski, 413 U.S. 433 (recognizing community‑caretaking exception in vehicle context)
State v. Scriven, 226 N.J. 20 (limits on caretaking stops where conduct does not implicate safety)
State v. Bogan, 200 N.J. 61 (caretaking role cannot be a pretext for investigation; roles may coexist)
State v. Diloreto, 180 N.J. 264 (community‑caretaking permits intrusions without probable cause if objectively reasonable)
Delaware v. Prouse, 440 U.S. 648 (stopping vehicle to check license/registration unreasonable absent exception)
Heien v. North Carolina, 135 S. Ct. 530 (reasonable mistake of law can support stop)
State v. Cohen, 347 N.J. Super. 375 (upholding stop for hazardous vehicle condition under caretaking doctrine)
State v. Martinez, 260 N.J. Super. 75 (stop justified where slow driving at night raised safety/distress concerns)
State v. Goetaski, 209 N.J. Super. 362 (stop justified for slow driving with signals on shoulder at night)
State v. Dickey, 152 N.J. 468 (scope of stop must be reasonably related to caretaking justification)
State v. Cryan, 320 N.J. Super. 325 (brief pause at green light did not justify caretaking stop)
State v. Drummond, 305 N.J. Super. 84 (investigation of parked dark vehicle at night justified under caretaking)
State v. Washington, 296 N.J. Super. 569 (weaving within lane justified caretaking stop)