Opinion ID: 901878
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Quality of Information or Degree of Reliability

Text: [¶ 14.] This Court has stated: With regard to assessing the quality or degree of reliability of an anonymous tip, the court observed that the primary determinant of a tipster's reliability is the basis of his knowledge and further observed that in erratic driving cases the basis of the tipster's knowledge . . . [a]lmost always . . . comes from his eyewitness observations[.] Wheat, 278 F3d at 734. From this, the court concluded that, an anonymous tip conveying a contemporaneous observation of criminal activity whose innocent details are corroborated is . . . credible[.] Id. at 735. Scholl, 2004 SD 85, ¶10, 684 NW2d at 87. Furthermore, [t]he time interval between receipt of the tip and location of the suspect vehicle [goes] principally to the question of reliability. . . . Id. 2004 SD 85, ¶9, 684 NW2d at 87 (citing Wheat, 278 F3d at 731). [¶ 15.] In the instant case, the tipster's basis of knowledge came from his direct observation of the occupants of the van, while they were parked in the lot and in plain sight of any observer. [2] The tipster immediately conveyed this information to the police officer. Because of the factual scenario, there were no innocent details left for the officer to corroborate. The only unknown facts were the elements of the violations, the possession of open containers and consumption of alcohol inside of the van. [¶ 16.] The exigency of the circumstances did not permit the officer to obtain further information from the tipster. The conversation lasted approximately twenty seconds, because the identified van started to leave the convenience store parking lot after that point. Once the van began moving, the potential danger resulting from the occupants' consumption became more immediate. The tipster had relayed to the officer that he had witnessed the occupants drinking beer, not simply that they were in possession of open containers. Therefore, the officer faced a dilemma of either: 1) obtaining the tipster's identifying information, then attempting to track down the van, driven by a potentially intoxicated driver, in city traffic; or 2) he could follow the van immediately. As to the risk that an anonymous tip might be a fiction intended to cause trouble for another motorist, the court determined that the risk of false tips is slight compared to the risk of not allowing the police to immediately conduct investigatory stops of potentially impaired drivers. In that regard, the court noted that erratic and possibly drunk drivers pose an imminent threat to public safety, that failure to stop them immediately risks sudden and potentially devastating accidents and, therefore, there is a substantial government interest in effecting such stops as quickly as possible. Scholl, 2004 SD 85, ¶10, 684 NW2d at 87.