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D.C.Cir.: Officer's subjective intent for stop was irrelevant because there was an objective basis

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Defendant’s car frisk was based on objective observations, and the officer’s supposed subjective belief did not matter. He had a knife, overtinted windows, and a "thin blue line" sticker when he had nothing to do with law enforcement. United States v. Vinton, 2010 U.S. App. LEXIS 2450 (D.C. Cir. February 5, 2010)*: Finally, Vinton's argument that Officer Alton did not subjectively believe Vinton was dangerous may easily be rejected. Because "[t]he Fourth Amendment test is objective," an officer's "actual subjective motives ... are irrelevant to the Fourth Amendment analysis of [a] traffic stop and protective search of the car." United States v. Washington, 559 F.3d 573, 575 (D.C. Cir. 2009). Of course, it was possible that Vinton used his sheathed knife only for fishing, that he had benign reasons for having excessively tinted windows, and that his "thin blue line" sticker was not meant to be misleading...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on February 08, 2010 (boomark / email).