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D.Mass.: Police could not wait an hour after a traffic violation to use it as a basis for a stop

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

The government could not use a traffic offense that occurred one hour earlier as a basis for a stop. Here, however, there was separate reasonable suspicion for the stop. United States v. Mendonca, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10321 (D. Mass. February 3, 2010): The government contends that the vehicle stop was permissible based upon the traffic violations observed by Sergeant Mello and relayed to Officer Saisselin. It argues that postponing the stop for roughly one hour "was not unreasonable" in light of the totality of the circumstances, including ongoing surveillance and Mendonca's arrest history. The government also cites two cases upholding a traffic stop as reasonable where officers delayed between the infraction and the stop. See United States v...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on February 10, 2010 (boomark / email).