Opinion ID: 2755743
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Did Trooper Brame Violate the Fourth Amendment

Text: Based on His Actual Motivation? Ms. Simpson also argues that a genuine issue of material fact remains concerning Trooper Brame’s motivation. She contends that “[Trooper] Brame clearly stated in his deposition that he arrested Olga Simpson for tearing up her ticket, which is clearly not an arrestable offense.” Aplt. Opening Br. at 15. But Trooper Brame’s motive does not affect the Fourth Amendment inquiry. See Devenpeck, 543 U.S. at 153 (“Our cases make clear that an arresting officer’s state of mind (except for the facts that he knows) is irrelevant to the existence of probable cause.”). Probable cause existed to arrest Ms. Simpson for the seatbelt offense; thus, the trooper did not violate the Fourth Amendment even if he made the arrest just because Ms. Simpson had torn up her ticket. - 12 -