Opinion ID: 2630631
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: court of appeals reverses district court

Text: ¶ 22 On appeal, the court of appeals concluded that Hansen was seized at the time Officer Huntington sought his consent to the search because no reasonable person in Hansen's position would have felt free to decline Officer Huntington's request, terminate the encounter, and go about his or her business. Hansen, 2000 UT App 353 at ¶ 15, 17 P.3d 1135. The court of appeals based its conclusion on several factors. First, it emphasized that although Officer Huntington returned Hansen's documents, he did not tell Hansen he was free to go. Id. at ¶ 13. Rather, he immediately confronted Hansen with investigatory questions after returning the documents, and such questioning would have tended to cause a reasonable person to believe he or she was still detained. Id. at ¶ 14. Second, the patrol cars' overhead lights remained flashing, and the other officer remained outside his vehicle throughout the encounter. Id. at ¶ 15. Finally, Officer Huntington did not indicate how he intended to handle the illegal lane change. Id. ¶ 23 Additionally, the court of appeals found that Officer Huntington illegally prolonged Hansen's detention by asking questions concerning contraband that were not based on reasonable suspicion or reasonably related in scope to the traffic violations that initially justified the traffic stop. After concluding that Hansen was illegally seized at the time Officer Huntington sought his consent to search his vehicle, the court of appeals went on to rule that the district court erred in concluding that Hansen had consented voluntarily. Id. at ¶ 25. Accordingly, the court of appeals ruled that the district court erred in denying Hansen's motion to suppress. Id. at ¶ 26. ¶ 24 We granted the State's petition for a writ of certiorari. We have jurisdiction pursuant to Utah Code Ann. § 78-2-2(3)(a) (2002).