Thomas Sims, Jr. was pulled over for speeding and caught driving with a suspended license and without insurance. After the traffic stop was complete, the officer asked whether Sims had drugs or weapons in his car; then he asked for and obtained consent to search the car. The search uncovered marijuana. The trial court agreed to suppress the marijuana, and the state appeals. The issue raised is whether an officer illegally exceeds the scope of a valid traffic stop by asking for information unrelated to the traffic stop and for consent to search for drugs while the person is still being detained and without articulable suspicion of a crime.
Sims, with two passengers, was stopped for speeding, and the officer asked to see his driver’s license and insurance card. Sims’ license was suspended and his insurance had expired, and the officer cited him for speeding and no insurance and then gave him notice of the suspended status of his license. Sims signed the citations. The officer kept the license because it was suspended, and, as the officer later testified, at this point the traffic stop was over. However, because Sims had no insurance, the car had to be towed. At the hearing, the officer admitted that at that moment, he had no probable cause or articulable suspicion that Sims had any contraband in his car.
The officer then asked Sims whether “he had any illegal contraband, including guns, knives, hand grenades, illegal drugs,” in the car. Sims said no. He then asked whether Sims had an objection to a search of the vehicle. He testified that Sims consented. He then patted down Sims for weapons and instructed him to stand next to another officer who had been called in for safety. The search revealed what appeared to be marijuana in the backseat. A passenger who had been in the backseat was arrested. The officer then took the keys out of the ignition, opened the trunk, and discovered purported drug paraphernalia and more suspected marijuana. Sims was then arrested. The officer testified that during the search, Sims never indicated that he wanted the officer to stop or limit the search.
The trial court appears to have concluded that
Migliore v. State,
Therefore it would appear that by asking the Defendant about drugs and then asking for consent to search, Deputy Watson exceeded the scope of the permissible investigation by turning a completed traffic stop into an investigation for drugs, something that is expressly prohibited by Migliore.
We find this language misstates the holding in Migliore, but nevertheless conclude that the trial court properly suppressed the evidence.
On reviewing a trial court’s ruling on a motion to suppress, “evidence is construed most favorably to uphold the findings and judgment and the trial court’s findings on disputed facts and credibility must be accepted unless clearly erroneous.” (Citation and punctuation omitted.)
Rider v. State,
The only issue of fact in dispute on appeal is whether Sims was free to go at the end of the initial traffic stop. The trial court held that Sims was still detained. Because this finding is supported by the evidence that the officer kept Sims’ license because it was suspended and that Sims’ car had to be towed because there was no insurance, we cannot say it was clearly erroneous.
But the trial court’s order suggests that after a valid traffic stop an officer can never ask unrelated questions or obtain valid consent to search for drugs unless he has reasonable suspicion of drug activity. The holdings in Migliore and similar cases are not that limiting.
The Fourth Amendment protects a person’s right to be secure against unreasonable searches and seizures. The “ 'touchstone of the Fourth Amendment is reasonableness.’
Florida v. Jimeno,
In deciding whether the question about drugs and weapons, standing alone, was unreasonable, we note that “mere police questioning does not constitute a seizure.”
Florida v. Bostick,
Second, with regard to the consent to search, “one of the specifically established exceptions to the requirements of both a warrant and probable cause is a search that is conducted pursuant to consent.” (Citations omitted.)
Schneckloth v. Bustamonte,
In
Robinette,
the defendant was stopped for speeding, and after the stop was completed and his license returned, the officer asked him whether he had any drugs or weapons.
Robinette,
The Supreme Court reversed and held that the Fourth Amendment did not require such a bright-line test.
Robinette,
However, as is shown in
Migliore
and
Smith v. State,
Here, the trial court also found as a matter of fact that Sims was detained without justification when the officer began to interrogate Sims about the contents of his car. And the subsequent consent to search was the product of this impermissible seizure. Accordingly, the trial court did not err in suppressing the evidence obtained in the search.
Judgment affirmed.
Notes
The factors . to be considered when determining voluntariness are described in
Schneckloth v. Bustamonte,