State v. Rogers
297 Neb. 265
| Neb. | 2017Background
- On Aug. 5, 2015, Lincoln police approached a parked vehicle near a vehicle connected to a wanted person; the approached vehicle had three occupants, including Rogers in the back seat.
- The lead officer saw the front-seat passenger reach under his seat, stopped him, and then other officers arrived; the front-seat passenger was arrested on an unrelated warrant.
- The officers had prior narcotics-related information associating the driver with drug activity; the lead officer also saw a small plastic bag protruding from a purse on the back-seat floor after passengers exited.
- Officers asked all occupants to exit the vehicle (passengers were outnumbered and surrounded); consent to search was refused and a drug dog was called and alerted.
- A subsequent search produced a purse containing a pipe and a bag with residue; Rogers was identified as the owner, arrested, tried, convicted of possession, and sentenced to 20 months to 5 years.
- Rogers moved to suppress the stop/search and appealed the denial; she also challenged the sentence as excessive. The district court denied suppression and imposed the sentence; the Nebraska Supreme Court affirmed.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument | Defendant's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whether officers’ request for passengers to exit and subsequent detention constituted a Fourth Amendment seizure | Rogers: directing passengers to exit after learning wanted person was not present was a seizure not supported by reasonable suspicion | State: initial encounter was tier-one that escalated to tier-two when occupants were asked out; officers had reasonable suspicion based on furtive movement, driver’s narcotics contacts, and visible baggie | Court: request to exit, given surrounding circumstances, was a seizure (tier-two) but supported by reasonable suspicion; suppression denied |
| Whether officers had reasonable suspicion to detain and dog-sniff the vehicle | Rogers: detention rested on a mere hunch because driver’s associations alone are insufficient | State: furtive reach under seat, driver’s known narcotics contacts, corroborating intelligence, and visible small bag in purse created reasonable suspicion | Court: totality of circumstances gave at least reasonable suspicion; later dog alert provided probable cause for search |
| Whether evidence from the search should be suppressed as fruit of illegal seizure | Rogers: evidence should be excluded if detention unlawful | State: seizure lawful; dog sniff and search were timely and lawful | Court: evidence admissible; motion to suppress properly overruled |
| Whether the sentence (20 months to 5 years) was excessive | Rogers: court failed to meaningfully consider mitigating factors and justify severity | State: sentence within statutory limits and properly discretionary | Court: sentence within statutory range and not an abuse of discretion; affirmed |
Key Cases Cited
- State v. Milos, 294 Neb. 375 (Neb. 2016) (describes three-tier framework for police-citizen encounters and review standards for suppression rulings)
- State v. Tyler, 291 Neb. 920 (Neb. 2015) (discusses when facts trigger Fourth Amendment protections)
- State v. Loding, 296 Neb. 670 (Neb. 2017) (addresses suppression review and sentencing standards)
- State v. Van Ackeren, 242 Neb. 479 (Neb. 1993) (early exposition of tiered police-citizen encounter analysis)
- State v. Hedgcock, 277 Neb. 805 (Neb. 2009) (holding that circumstances can make an officer’s request to exit a vehicle a seizure)
- Delaware v. Prouse, 440 U.S. 648 (U.S. 1979) (Fourth Amendment principles regarding seizures and vehicle stops)