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Second stop on same reasonable suspicion was unreasonable

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Second stop of the defendant was without any additional reasonable suspicion. Also, the officer called for a drug dog before the stop was over, and that continued it. United States v. Hernandez-Mendoza, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 63059 (D. S.D. June 30, 2008)*: The court concludes that Trooper Swets' continued detention of the defendants in this case was illegal under the above precedent. Trooper Swets had a right to stop the vehicle for speeding, as discussed above, however, he had to have a reasonable, articulable suspicion to expand the traffic stop and continue to detain the defendants once he stopped them. The only information Trooper Swets had to rely upon as his basis for continued detention of the defendants was all the same information that Captain Hodge had relayed to him...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on August 21, 2008 (boomark / email).