State v. Owens, 2011 ND 174

In August 2010, Rodney Hewson called 911 after Lola Hewson left home, intoxicated, nearly hit him, and he reported her red Oldsmobile and direction.
Dispatcher relayed to a Dickinson officer that Lola Hewson was intoxicated and had almost run over Rodney, providing the vehicle description and address.
En route, the officer saw a red Oldsmobile matching the description, read the license plate, and learned the vehicle was registered to a Lola at the same address.
The officer stopped Lola Hewson for further investigation and she was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol.
Hewson moved to suppress the stop as unconstitutional; the district court granted suppression, ruling the stop was not justified.
On appeal, the Supreme Court held the officer had a reasonable and articulable suspicion to stop the vehicle based on the totality of the circumstances.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Was there reasonable suspicion to stop the vehicle?	City: yes, based on informant tip and corroborating observations.	Hewson: no, no observed impairment or violations	Yes; stop supported by reasonable suspicion

State v. Zink, 2010 ND 230 (2010) (standard for reviewing suppression rulings)
State v. Wolfer, 2010 ND 63 (2010) (reasonable suspicion evaluated under totality of circumstances)
Gabel v. North Dakota Dept. of Transp., 2006 ND 178 (2006) (reasonable and articulable suspicion requires objective standard)
City of Fargo v. Ovind, 1998 ND 69 (1998) (framework for reasonable suspicion)
Anderson v. Director, North Dakota Dept. of Transp., 2005 ND 97 (2005) (reliability of informants and totality of circumstances)
In re T.J.K., 1999 ND 152 (1999) (informant tip reliability considerations)
State v. Neis, 469 N.W.2d 568 (1991) (informant tips may provide factual basis for a stop)
Geiger v. Backes, 444 N.W.2d 692 (1989) (totality of circumstances approach)
Alabama v. White, 496 U.S. 325 (1990) (informant reliability under totality framework)
State v. Miller, 510 N.W.2d 638 (1994) (probabilities used in reasonable suspicion standard)
State v. Decoteau, 2004 ND 139 (2004) (reasonable suspicion standard applied to driving cases)
State v. Mandan v. Gerhardt, 2010 ND 112 (2010) (probabilities and totality in stop justification)