Pursuant to Ind. Appellate Rule 65(D), 

this Memorandum Decision shall not be 

regarded as precedent or cited before any 

court except for the purpose of 

establishing the defense of res judicata, 

collateral estoppel, or the law of the case.

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT: ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE:

BRYAN L. COOK GREGORY F. ZOELLER

Indianapolis, Indiana Attorney General of Indiana

BRIAN REITZ

Deputy Attorney General

Indianapolis, Indiana

IN THE

COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA

JOHN MCLAUGHLIN, )

)

Appellant-Defendant, )

)

vs. ) No. 49A05-1305-CR-245

)

STATE OF INDIANA, )

)

Appellee-Plaintiff. )

INTERLOCUTORY APPEAL FROM THE MARION SUPERIOR COURT 

The Honorable Jose Salinas, Judge

Cause No. 49G14-1207-FD-47894 

January 30, 2014

MEMORANDUM DECISION - NOT FOR PUBLICATION

VAIDIK, Chief Judge
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Case Summary

A police officer pulled over John McLaughlin for driving erratically; asked him for 

his license and registration; noticed he had bloodshot eyes, was nervous and fidgety, was 

sweating profusely, and was speaking rapidly but clearly; and asked him if he was okay

and if he needed medical assistance. McLaughlin said his air conditioner was broken, but 

he was okay and did not need medical assistance. The officer ran McLaughlin’s 

information and determined that he was a valid driver. After returning McLaughlin’s 

license and registration, the officer asked McLaughlin if he could search his car.

McLaughlin agreed, and drugs were found. The State charged McLaughlin with 

possession of heroin, and McLaughlin filed a motion to suppress, which the trial court 

denied. 

McLaughlin now pursues this discretionary interlocutory appeal arguing that his 

Pirtle rights were violated because he was in custody and the officer did not advise him of 

his right to consult an attorney before asking for his consent to search his car. Although 

the officer did not advise McLaughlin of his right to consult an attorney, we find that this 

was a conventional traffic stop and McLaughlin was not in custody; therefore, a Pirtle

advisement was not required. Accordingly, we affirm the trial court’s denial of 

McLaughlin’s motion to suppress. 

Facts and Procedural History

Around 10:00 p.m. on July 12, 2012, Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department 

Officer James Gillespie was driving northbound on Binford Boulevard en route to a call 

when he observed a black SUV driving “erratically” in the left lane in front of him. Tr. p.
3

7. The SUV drifted into the right lane, almost striking another car, then returned to the left 

lane. Id. at 7, 17. 

Believing the driver was “distracted or impaired,” Officer Gillespie “preempted”

the call he was on and pulled over the SUV. Id. at 7. The SUV was driven by McLaughlin 

and had no passengers. Officer Gillespie asked McLaughlin for his license and registration. 

McLaughlin was nervous and fidgety, spoke rapidly, had bloodshot eyes, and was sweating

profusely. Id. at 7, 21-22. When Officer Gillespie asked McLaughlin if he was okay, 

McLaughlin responded that the air conditioner in his SUV was broken, but he was fine. Id.

at 8. Officer Gillespie returned to his car to perform a records check and determined that 

McLaughlin was a “valid driver.” Id. Officer Gillespie walked back to McLaughlin’s SUV 

and asked if he could call medics to come and check him because the officer was concerned

for his welfare. Id. McLaughlin, who was speaking clearly and appeared to be of sound 

mind, said no because he was fine. Id. at 8, 24. Officer Gillespie then suggested that 

McLaughlin drive his SUV to a parking lot and have someone pick him up; McLaughlin 

declined this suggestion, too. Id. at 8. After returning McLaughlin’s license and 

registration, Officer Gillespie asked McLaughlin if there was anything in his SUV that he 

needed to know about, such as guns, drugs, weapons of mass destruction, or “anything like 

that.” Id. at 8-9. McLaughlin said no. Officer Gillespie then asked McLaughlin if he could 

“check real quick.” Id. at 9. McLaughlin said that “would be fine.” Id. 

McLaughlin, who was still sweating, stepped outside his SUV. Id. Officer Gillespie 

conducted a patdown of McLaughlin to make sure he did not have any weapons on him. 

Id. at 9-10. Officer Gillespie looked into the SUV and, on the front passenger seat, saw a 
4

Jolly Rancher box with several small pieces of aluminum foil. Id. at 10. According to 

Officer Gillespie, this was indicative of narcotics. Id. Officer Gillespie opened up one of 

the pieces of foil and observed a yellow-white powder, which he suspected to be an opiate. 

Id. Officer Gillespie then asked another officer, who had since arrived on the scene, to 

arrest McLaughlin and Mirandize him. Id. 

Officer Gillespie showed McLaughlin the Jolly Rancher box and asked him what 

was inside; McLaughlin responded that it was a mixture of morphine and something else. 

Id. at 12. Officer Gillespie performed a horizontal gaze nystagmus, which McLaughlin 

passed. Id. at 22-23. Officer Gillespie continued the search and found a backpack in the 

backseat of the car. The backpack contained several syringes, a spoon with burn marks 

and drug residue, and cigarettes with the cotton removed, all of which indicated drug use

to Office Gillespie. Id. at 12. Because McLaughlin’s condition later worsened, he was 

taken to Wishard Hospital. Id. at 23. 

The State charged McLaughlin with Class D felony possession of a narcotic drug

(heroin) and Class A misdemeanor possession of paraphernalia. McLaughlin filed a 

motion to suppress the evidence found during the traffic stop pursuant to both the Indiana 

and United States Constitutions. Appellant’s App. p. 5-6. At the motion-to-suppress 

hearing, Officer Gillespie testified as follows: 

[McLaughlin] declined medical attention. So he . . . said he was fine, and I 

can’t force him to . . . seek medical assistance. 

* * * * *

If he would not have consented to the search, he would have been free to 

leave.
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* * * * *

He had an open laptop, several electronic devices as well. I don’t know if he 

was playing on those things before I stopped him or not. I didn’t know if he

was distracted. And again, he was – he wasn’t stumbling over his words. No 

slurred speech or anything like that. He was of sound mind and speaking to 

me just fine. And so I felt comfortable with letting him go ahead and find a 

parking lot. 

Tr. p. 24. The trial court ruled that the search was “consensual” and that a Pirtle advisement

did not need to be given because McLaughlin “was not under arrest at that point” and was

free to leave. Id. at 57-59. As the trial court explained, when Officer Gillespie completed 

the traffic stop and returned McLaughlin’s license and registration, he made a “judgment 

call” not to take McLaughlin into custody for a drug-related crime. Id. at 58. The trial 

court, however, suppressed the incriminating statements McLaughlin made after Officer 

Gillespie found the Jolly Rancher box and excluded the evidence found in the backpack. 

Id. at 62-63.

This discretionary interlocutory appeal pursuant to Indiana Appellate Rule 14(B) 

now ensues. 

Discussion and Decision

McLaughlin contends that the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress the 

evidence found during the traffic stop. We review the denial of a motion to suppress in a 

manner similar to reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence. Clark v. State, 994 N.E.2d 

252, 259 (Ind. 2013). We consider only the evidence favorable to the trial court’s ruling, 

alongside substantial uncontradicted evidence to the contrary, to decide if that evidence is 

sufficient to support the denial. Id.
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McLaughlin argues that his Pirtle rights were violated because he was asked to 

consent to a search of his car “without being told he had a right to consult an attorney.” 

Appellant’s Br. p. 6. 

There is no federal constitutional right to counsel before consenting to a search even 

if the suspect is in custody. Clarke v. State, 868 N.E.2d 1114, 1119 (Ind. 2007) (citing 

United States v. LaGrone, 43 F.3d 332, 337 (7th Cir. 1994)). However, Pirtle v. State, 263 

Ind. 16, 323 N.E.2d 634 (1975), established that Article 1, Section 11 of the Indiana 

Constitution requires that a person in custody explicitly waive the right to counsel before 

giving a valid consent to a search.

Here, McLaughlin was not advised of his right to counsel before Officer Gillespie

asked for consent to search his car. Therefore, if McLaughlin was in custody, his Pirtle

rights were violated, and the motion to suppress should have been granted. 

In determining whether a defendant was in custody when consent was requested, 

courts consider all circumstances surrounding the encounter and apply an objective test,

asking whether a reasonable person under the same circumstances would believe that he 

was under arrest or not free to resist the entreaties of the police. Meredith v. State, 906 

N.E.2d 867, 873 (Ind. 2009). However, a suspect who has been stopped by police and 

therefore has been “seized” for purposes of Article 1, Section 11 is not necessarily in 

custody. Clarke, 868 N.E.2d at 1119 (citing Cooley v. State, 682 N.E.2d 1277, 1279 (Ind.

1997)); see also Meredith, 906 N.E.2d at 873 (“A person stopped by police, while ‘seized’ 

and momentarily not free to go, is ordinarily not considered in custody.”). Being stopped 

for a traffic violation, asked to present a license, asked to perform a field sobriety test, and 
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asked for consent to search a car is “nothing more than a conventional traffic stop” and 

“cannot fairly be characterized as the functional equivalent of formal arrest.” Meredith, 

906 N.E.2d at 874 (quotation omitted). Instead, something more is required to transform 

a conventional traffic stop into a custodial situation. In Meredith, our Supreme Court 

identified a non-exhaustive list of factors that help distinguish ordinary investigative 

detentions from full-blown custodial interrogations: (1) whether the defendant was read his 

Miranda rights, handcuffed, restrained in any way, or told that he was a suspect in a crime; 

(2) how vigorous was the law enforcement interrogation; (3) whether police suggested the 

defendant should cooperate, implied adverse consequences for noncooperation, or 

suggested that the defendant was not free to go about his business; and (4) the length of the 

detention. Id. at 873-74. 

We find that the record here reveals a conventional traffic stop. Officer Gillespie 

observed McLaughlin driving erratically and initiated a traffic stop. Officer Gillespie 

asked McLaughlin for his license and registration and whether he was okay. After 

returning his license and registration, Officer Gillespie asked McLaughlin for consent to 

search his car. McLaughlin consented. This cannot fairly be characterized as the functional 

equivalent of a formal arrest. See id. at 874 (“Here, the record reveals nothing more than 

a conventional traffic stop. Viewed most favorably to the trial court’s decision, the record 

shows only that Officer Lackey stopped the defendant for a traffic infraction; asked the 

defendant for his license; based on his perception of the smell of alcohol and the 

defendant’s red eyes and nervousness, asked the defendant to perform a sobriety test; and 

then asked for consent to search the vehicle. Absent anything in the record pointing the 
8

other way, ‘[t]reatment of this sort cannot fairly be characterized as the functional 

equivalent of formal arrest.’” (citations omitted) (quotation omitted)). 

In addition, none of the factors listed in Meredith were present when Officer 

Gillespie asked McLaughlin for consent to search his car. That is, McLaughlin was not 

read his Miranda rights, handcuffed, or restrained in any way. Officer Gillespie did not 

inform McLaughlin that he was a suspect in a crime, interrogate him, suggest that he should 

cooperate, or imply that he was not free to go about his business. Finally, McLaughlin was 

not detained for any significant amount of time. The facts here are distinguishable from 

those cases where the defendant was found to be in custody. See, e.g., Crocker v. State, 

989 N.E.2d 812 (Ind. Ct. App. 2013) (finding driver in custody when officer put him in 

police vehicle and questioned him there after officer noticed that driver’s eyes were 

bloodshot and glassy, he was nervous, the rental car he was driving was in someone else’s 

name, and his hands were shaking when he produced his driver’s license), trans. denied; 

Friend v. State, 858 N.E.2d 646, 651 (Ind. Ct. App. 2006) (“Without question, a reasonable 

innocent person in Friend’s position would not believe that he was free to leave or to resist 

the entreaties of the police. The State points out that Trooper Rowan told Friend that he 

was not under arrest. However, when the officer asked Friend for consent to search his 

vehicle, Friend had already been patted down for weapons, detained roughly forty-five 

minutes, and told repeatedly to stay in the patrol car. Finally, Friend was handcuffed but 

not Mirandized. Friend was clearly ‘in custody’ when asked to consent to the search and 

was not informed of his right to counsel before his consent was obtained.”); Sellmer v. 

State, 842 N.E.2d 358 (Ind. 2006) (finding driver in custody where officer asked for her 
9

consent to search three to five times, asked incriminating questions, told driver it was in 

her best interest to cooperate, and did not answer truthfully when driver asked the officer 

what her rights were); Conwell v. State, 714 N.E.2d 764 (Ind. Ct. App. 1999) (finding 

driver in custody when the officer immediately ordered driver out of car, handcuffed him, 

and placed him in a choke hold). Because McLaughlin was not in custody, his Pirtle rights 

did not attach. 

 Nevertheless, McLaughlin makes a unique argument. He claims that because he 

displayed “glaring signs of intoxication and heroin use,” he should have been detained from 

the outset of the traffic stop and was therefore effectively in custody when he was asked 

for consent to search. Appellant’s Br. p. 7-13. However, McLaughlin’s subjective beliefs 

are not controlling because the test is an objective one. McLaughlin cannot retroactively 

and unilaterally place himself into custody. McLaughlin’s argument amounts to a 

formulistic approach that when a person drives erratically, is nervous and fidgety, has 

bloodshot eyes, and is sweating, that person must be placed into custody. But that is not 

the law. Officer Gillespie made a reasonable determination, based on a number of factors, 

not to take McLaughlin into custody when he returned McLaughlin’s license and 

registration. Because McLaughlin was not in custody, no Pirtle advisement was necessary. 

Accordingly, the trial court did not err in denying McLaughlin’s motion to suppress.

1

 

1 McLaughlin also argues that his Fourth Amendment rights were violated. One well-recognized 

exception to the Fourth Amendment’s warrant requirement is a voluntary and knowing consent to search. 

Crocker, 989 N.E.2d at 820. When the State seeks to rely upon consent to justify a warrantless search, it 

has the burden of proving that the consent was, in fact, freely and voluntarily given. Id. The voluntariness 

of a consent to search is a question of fact to be determined from the totality of the circumstances. Id. 

McLaughlin notes that “where there is coercion there can be no consent.” Appellant’s Br. p. 16. 

McLaughlin, however, makes no argument that he was coerced into consenting to a search of his car. 

Moreover, our analysis above shows otherwise. There is no Fourth Amendment violation. 
10

Affirmed.

RILEY, J., and MAY, J., concur.