State v. Rivera, 297 Neb. 709

On May 24, 2014, at ~10:35 p.m., two Nebraska Game and Parks conservation officers encountered two groups of people on a dark, unmarked paved road in a recreation area.
Officers parked their marked pickup on the right side of the road; one officer approached the groups while the other returned to the vehicle to call dispatch.
Rivera approached in his vehicle, pulled onto the grassy shoulder, and slowed as he passed the parked patrol vehicle; if he had attempted to pass on the left he still would have left the paved road.
A uniformed, badge-displaying officer walked around the front of the patrol vehicle toward Rivera’s vehicle; Rivera stopped his truck when he saw the officer. The officer did not use lights, siren, horn, draw a weapon, or block Rivera’s vehicle.
The officer told Rivera he would move the patrol vehicle if Rivera waited; the officer observed bloodshot, watery eyes and slurred speech, asked about drinking, then detained Rivera for DUI, leading to arrest.
Rivera moved to suppress evidence; the county court, district court, and Court of Appeals upheld the denial (the county court applied the community caretaking exception). The Nebraska Supreme Court granted further review.

Issue	Rivera's Argument	State's Argument	Held
Whether the initial police-citizen encounter was a Fourth Amendment seizure	Rivera: officer’s approach and conduct caused a seizure; community caretaking exception applied	State: encounter began as nonseizure (a voluntary stop); officer’s observations justified escalation	Held: No seizure occurred at encounter start; Rivera voluntarily stopped, so no need to invoke community caretaking exception
Whether community caretaking exception justified officer’s contact/detention	Rivera: Court of Appeals overbroadly expanded the exception	State: community caretaking could apply as county court concluded	Held: Exception unnecessary because no initial seizure; lower courts reached correct result despite relying on exception
Whether officer’s subjective intent matters to seizure analysis	Rivera: intended to stop vehicle supports seizure finding	State: officer intent is irrelevant; objective circumstances control	Held: Officer’s subjective intent irrelevant; whether a reasonable person would feel free to leave controls
Whether officer had reasonable suspicion to detain after initial contact	Rivera: initial contact unlawful so subsequent detention tainted	State: officer’s observations (bloodshot eyes, slurred speech, admission of drinking) provided reasonable suspicion	Held: After voluntary stop, officer’s observations escalated encounter to second-tier and provided reasonable suspicion for detention

State v. Bakewell, 273 Neb. 372, 730 N.W.2d 335 (2007) (community caretaking exception must be narrowly and carefully applied)
State v. Rogers, 297 Neb. 265, 899 N.W.2d 626 (2017) (framework for tiered police-citizen encounters and seizure analysis)
State v. Avey, 288 Neb. 233, 846 N.W.2d 662 (2014) (Fourth Amendment seizure requires showing of nonfreedom to leave)
State v. Hedgcock, 277 Neb. 805, 765 N.W.2d 469 (2009) (no seizure without submission; show of authority requires submission)
State v. Lee, 290 Neb. 601, 861 N.W.2d 393 (2015) (appellate review does not reweigh witness credibility when reviewing factual findings)
State v. Draganescu, 276 Neb. 448, 755 N.W.2d 57 (2008) (officer’s subjective intent irrelevant to seizure determination)
State v. Kolbjornsen, 295 Neb. 231, 888 N.W.2d 153 (2016) (correct result will not be disturbed solely because the lower court used incorrect reasoning)