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CA10: Officer's mistake of law in stopping a car with temporary tags and continuing stop after mistake discovered resulted in suppression

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

The Tenth Circuit discusses at length the basis for a stop under NM law for dealer tags that the officer thought at first were missing, but determined that they were valid, and that should have ended the stop. Continuing the stop was unreasonable. United States v. Pena-Montes, 2009 U.S. App. LEXIS 26567 (10th Cir. December 7, 2009)*: Viewing the government's asserted factors in concert, we conclude that Officer Hernandez lacked a "particularized and objective basis for suspecting legal wrongdoing." United States v. Arvizu, 534 U.S. 266, 273, 122 S. Ct. 744, 151 L. Ed. 2d 740 (2002) (quotation omitted). To conclude otherwise would grant permission to the APD to detain and question every car with a dealer plate driving along Central Avenue after most dealerships are closed...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on December 11, 2009 (boomark / email).