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M.D.Ga.: Government fails to show RS for prolonging stop; court just doesn't buy the police evidence

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

The government failed to show articulable reasonable suspicion for prolonging the stop. United States v. Mendez, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 49534 (M.D. Ga. May 18, 2010)*: This is a fairly close case. The question boils down to whether there was an articulable suspicion which would justify prolongation of the traffic stop to the point where permission to search was asked for and granted. In the Court's opinion, the reasons given by the deputies to support their suspicion do not support anything in this case. The reasons are all reasons the Court has heard many times in many cases. If Defendant had rented the car for one day and said he was going to Florida, the circumstances may have been suspicious, but there is nothing suspicious about going from Gwinnett County to Moultrie and back in one day...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on May 21, 2010 (boomark / email).