By Riley S. Lovejoy, Attorney at Law - Does the Washington Constitution Article I, § 7 permit the police to detain a passenger in an automobile at the scene of a traffic infraction if the passenger wishes to depart, the police lack reasonable suspicion the person is engaged in criminal activity, and the person poses no apparent danger to the officer? The simple answer is no. see State v. Mendez, 137 Wn.2d 208 (1999). In the Mendez case, Yakima police lawfully stopped a car in which Efrain Mendez was a passenger. Once the car came to a stop, both the driver and Mendez got out of the car, and Mendez began to walk away. When the police ordered Mendez to return to the car, he started to run. When the police finally caught up to Mendez, they found a pipe used to smoke marijuana in his pants pocket, and he was charged with possession of drug paraphernalia. In this case, the Washington Supreme Court attempts to strike an appropriate balance between the concern for officer safety and the constitutional privacy interests of passengers who are not suspected of committing a crime. As a passenger, Mendez was not stopped on suspicion of criminal activity. Further, the officers failed to articulate how, by walking away from the traffic stop, Mendez posed a danger to the officers. Since the police had no probable cause to stop Mendez after he left the vehicle, the Washington State Supreme Court ruled the marijuana pipe obtained from the search must be suppressed.
For information on your Washington State DUI please contact our Snohomish County DUI attorneys, King County DUI attorneys, Island County DUI attorneys, or Skagit County DUI attorneys at 425-493-1115 or check out our website at http://www.washdui.com
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