State v. Rivera, 297 Neb. 709

At ~10:35 p.m., two Nebraska Game and Parks conservation officers encountered two groups of people on a dark paved road in a recreation area; officers parked on the right shoulder and one officer left the vehicle to investigate.
While one officer was at the groups and the other was inside the patrol vehicle calling dispatch, Jonathan J. Rivera approached in his vehicle, pulled onto the grassy shoulder, and drove slowly past the parked patrol vehicle toward the groups.
A uniformed officer exited the patrol vehicle and walked around its front toward Rivera’s vehicle; Rivera stopped his vehicle when he saw the officer. The officer did not use lights, siren, horn, draw a firearm, or physically block Rivera’s vehicle.
The officer told Rivera he would move the patrol vehicle if Rivera would wait a few minutes; the officer observed bloodshot, watery eyes and slurred speech and asked about drinking; Rivera admitted drinking.
Rivera was detained for DUI, arrested, and moved to suppress; county court denied suppression applying the community caretaking exception. District court and Court of Appeals affirmed; Nebraska Supreme Court granted further review.

Issue	Rivera's Argument	State's Argument	Held
Whether the initial officer contact constituted a Fourth Amendment seizure	Officer’s conduct caused Rivera to stop; community caretaking exception was wrongly applied broadly	Officer’s approach did not amount to a seizure; interaction began as a consensual encounter that escalated on observed impairment	No seizure occurred at the start; the encounter was a consensual (first-tier) contact that escalated to investigative detention once impairment was observed
Whether community caretaking exception justified contact/detention	Community caretaking exception should not be expanded to cover this encounter	Not required because no seizure occurred; reasonable-suspicion detention followed from observations	Community caretaking exception unnecessary; court affirmed denial of suppression on independent ground (no initial seizure, then reasonable suspicion)

State v. Bakewell, 273 Neb. 372 (narrow, careful application of community caretaking exception)
State v. Rogers, 297 Neb. 265 (tiered framework for police-citizen encounters)
State v. Hedgcock, 277 Neb. 805 (officer may make a seizure by show of authority; no seizure without submission)
State v. Avey, 288 Neb. 233 (Fourth Amendment seizure requires belief one is not free to leave)
State v. Lee, 290 Neb. 601 (appellate review: do not reweigh credibility when reviewing factual findings)
State v. Draganescu, 276 Neb. 448 (officer's subjective intent irrelevant to seizure analysis)
State v. Kolbjornsen, 295 Neb. 231 (a correct result stands even if lower court used wrong reasoning)