State v. Sean McInnis, 169 N.H. 565

Defendant Sean McInnis had prior convictions including shoplifting (2009) with unpaid fines and a 2012 theft conviction that resulted in a three-month jail term (concurrent with another case); a default/ payment schedule and related hearing were set for April 12, 2012.
Defendant remained incarcerated in the Carroll County House of Corrections on April 12 and did not appear at a scheduled fine-payment hearing; the circuit court issued a bench warrant for failure to appear.
On August 12, 2012, a uniformed Rochester police officer encountered McInnis near a tavern, asked whether he was involved in an assault, requested his name and DOB, and ran a dispatch warrant check while McInnis stood by.
Dispatch advised the officer of an outstanding bench warrant; the officer arrested McInnis, who then admitted he had drugs on his person; additional incriminating statements were made at the station.
McInnis was charged with two counts of possession of a controlled drug and moved to suppress all evidence, arguing (1) he was seized without reasonable suspicion when the officer ran the warrant check and (2) the bench warrant was invalid because the court knew he was incarcerated. The superior court denied suppression and convicted him after a stipulated-facts bench trial.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument (State)	Defendant's Argument (McInnis)	Held
Whether officer’s request for a warrant check constituted a seizure requiring reasonable suspicion	No unlawful seizure occurred before the arrest; the encounter was consensual until arrest	Requesting a warrant check while standing next to him made a reasonable person feel not free to leave, so seizure occurred without reasonable suspicion	Court held no seizure occurred when the officer ran the warrant check; defendant was free to leave and was not seized until arrest
Whether the bench warrant was improperly issued because the court knew defendant was incarcerated	Bench warrant valid; probable cause existed for contempt/failure to appear based on notice and defendant’s nonappearance	Warrant invalid because the court knew defendant’s absence was caused by incarceration (a reasonable excuse) and thus lacked probable cause	Court held probable cause supported the bench warrant and record did not show the court actually knew he was incarcerated when issuing it

State v. Daoud, 158 N.H. 779 (describing when police-citizen encounters become seizures under state constitution)
State v. Licks, 154 N.H. 491 (warrantless seizure is per se unreasonable unless within exception)
State v. Joyce, 159 N.H. 440 (two-step inquiry to determine when seizure occurred and whether reasonable suspicion existed)
State v. Ducharme, 167 N.H. 606 (definition of probable cause to arrest)
Florida v. Bostick, 501 U.S. 429 (federal guidance that consensual encounters do not violate Fourth Amendment)