Opinion ID: 1593519
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Applicability of a Probable Cause Test.

Text: Was the district court warranted in applying a probable cause to stop test? Iowa statutes do not impose such a requirement and neither do cases applying the fourth amendment to investigatory stops of motor vehicles. In State v. Lamp, 322 N.W.2d 48 (Iowa 1982), our court clearly articulated the reasonable cause test for investigatory stops: It is well settled that the fourth amendment requires reasonable cause to stop a vehicle for investigatory purposes. Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 21, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 1880, 20 L.Ed.2d 889, 906 (1968); State v. Cooley, 229 N.W.2d 755, 759 (Iowa 1975). When a stop is challenged on the basis that reasonable cause did not exist, the State must show that the stopping officer had specific and articulable cause to support a reasonable belief that criminal activity may have occurred. State v. Aschenbrenner, 289 N.W.2d 618, 619 (Iowa 1980) (emphasis added). Circumstances giving rise to suspicion or curiosity will not suffice. State v. Dixon, 241 N.W.2d 21, 23 ([Iowa] 1976). The officer is bound by the true reason or reasons for making the stop; that is, the officer may not rely on reasons that he or she could have had but did not actually have. Aschenbrenner, 289 N.W.2d at 619. If the State fails to meet its burden, the evidence obtained as a result of the stop must be suppressed. State v. Reese, 259 N.W.2d 793, 796 (Iowa 1977). Id. at 51; accord State v. Stevens, 394 N.W.2d 388, 391 (Iowa 1986). Other courts agree that reasonable cause, not probable cause, is the test to be applied in cases like this. See Marben v. State Department of Public Safety, 294 N.W.2d 697, 699 (Minn. 1980); People v. Ingle, 36 N.Y.2d 413, 420, 330 N.E.2d 39, 44, 369 N.Y.S.2d 67, 74 (1975); State v. Anderson, 359 N.W.2d 887, 889 (S.D.1984). The evidence presented to the agency and now before us in this judicial review proceeding satisfied each of the conditions for test result revocation provided by section 321B.16. The district court incorrectly applied a probable cause test in determining whether the department had authority to revoke the license. The decision of the agency must therefore be upheld as supported by substantial evidence in the record as a whole (Iowa Code § 17A.19(8)) unless the district court was correct in applying an exclusionary rule and refusing to consider the evidence the officer obtained by stopping Westendorf's automobile, including the results of chemical testing.