State v. Foote, 952 N.W.2d 37

Around 2:15 a.m. on December 8, 2019, two Ward County deputies saw a running vehicle stuck on an approach and stopped to perform a welfare check.
The trainee deputy knocked and either requested or instructed Stephanie Foote to roll down her window; Foote complied and said she had pulled over to call her sister and later became stuck.
Deputy Miller took over the contact, asked Foote to exit the vehicle, observed signs of intoxication (unsteady, watery eyes, slurred speech, strong odor in patrol vehicle), and conducted SFSTs and a PBT that showed alcohol over the legal limit.
Foote was arrested for actual physical control (APC) and later moved to suppress all evidence as the product of unconstitutional seizures (first at the window, then when asked to exit).
The district court denied the motion to suppress, finding both contacts were consensual/community-caretaker encounters and, in any event, Miller developed reasonable suspicion/probable cause; Foote entered a conditional guilty plea and appealed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether trainee deputy’s knocking/request that Foote roll down window was a Fourth Amendment seizure	The State: welfare check/community-caretaker inquiry; request was consensual, not an order	Foote: knock and instruction to roll down window was an order that seized her, tainting subsequent evidence	Court: request was a community-caretaker, consensual contact, not a seizure; court credited testimony that it was a request
Whether Miller’s request that Foote exit and sit in the patrol car was a seizure	The State: Miller requested entry voluntarily; observations before/after justified further investigation and arrest	Foote: being asked to exit and enter patrol car was an order/seizure making subsequent observations and tests unconstitutional	Court: Miller’s request was consensual (not coercive); even if seizure occurred after she entered the patrol car, Miller had sufficient articulable suspicion/probable cause based on observed impairment

State v. Bohe, 917 N.W.2d 497 (ND 2018) (standard of review for suppression rulings; defer to district court factual findings)
State v. Schneider, 855 N.W.2d 399 (ND 2014) (Fourth Amendment seizure occurs when a reasonable person would not feel free to leave)
Abernathey v. Dep’t of Transp., 768 N.W.2d 485 (ND 2009) (officer requests to open window/exit car in welfare-check context are permissible; orders convert encounter into seizure)
City of Jamestown v. Jerome, 639 N.W.2d 478 (ND 2002) (approach to a parked vehicle is not a seizure if conversational and noncoercive)
State v. Leher, 653 N.W.2d 56 (ND 2002) (officer acting as community caretaker may inquire whether occupant needs assistance)
United States v. Flores-Sandoval, 474 F.3d 1142 (8th Cir. 2007) (consensual encounters become seizures when totality of circumstances are so coercive a reasonable person would not feel free to leave)