State v. Young, 12 A.3d 510

Defendant Jason Young drove into the driveway of a private residence late at night; the resident was an off-duty officer observing from within the driveway.
The officer initially treated the encounter as a private citizen’s inquiry, not a police seizure.
A strong odor of alcohol, slurred speech, and defendant’s behavior led the officer to suspect DUI after contact.
The officer asked defendant to exit the vehicle and perform field sobriety tests after determining possible impairment.
The trial court denied suppression and the motion to dismiss; the issue on appeal concerned whether the initial encounter was a seizure and whether the exit order was supported by reasonable suspicion.
The Vermont Supreme Court affirmed, holding the initial encounter was private and not a seizure, and that there was reasonable suspicion to require exit and perform sobriety tests.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the initial driveway encounter was a seizure	Young	Young	No seizure occurred until the exit order
Whether the exit order was supported by reasonable suspicion	State	Cole and Santimore distinguish facts	Yes, based on odor of alcohol and defendant’s slurred speech and eyes
Whether the trial court’s factual findings were clearly erroneous	State	Findings lacked support	Harmless error on one facial finding; overall findings upheld

Commonwealth v. Leone, 435 N.E.2d 1036 (Mass. 1982) (Fourth Amendment action limited to government conduct; private off-duty activity may fall outside suppression)
United States v. Jacobsen, 466 U.S. 109 (1984) (Fourth Amendment applies to government action; private conduct not subject to exclusion)
Walker v. Nebraska, 459 N.W.2d 527 (Neb. 1990) (Private capacity of a law enforcement officer; private conduct may be non-search if not in official capacity)