Opinion ID: 1452817
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: illegally stopping appellant's automobile

Text: Baker contends that his confession was the fruit of an illegal arrest in New Mexico. His underlying premise is that the stopping of his car by New Mexico officers was illegal. The specific issue of a stop for driver's license and registration check has been considered and determined by the Attorney General of New Mexico in his 1966 report at page 76 (Attorney General Opinion No. 66-62), wherein it is stated: Section 64-13-39, N.M.S.A., 1953 Compilation (P.S.), provides that a non-resident motorist must have a valid license from his state of residence in his immediate possession if he wants to operate a motor vehicle in New Mexico. ... [A] non-resident motorist can be required to show proof that his out-of-state vehicle is duly registered in some foreign state as is required under Section 64-6-1 (A), supra. In conducting such checks of vehicle registration an officer can detain a non-resident motorist for a brief time on the road to determine whether his vehicle is duly registered in the foreign state. If the motorist cannot show proof of such foreign registration, and if it appears that the vehicle probably is not duly registered, then he may be cited as a misdemeanant under Section 64-6-1 (A), supra. N.M. Att'y Gen. Rep. (1966) at 76. The Attorney General reached the conclusion that the state statute validly authorized the stopping and checking of non-resident motorists by police if this was for the good faith examination of the driver's license or vehicle registration. We accept this interpretation of the law of New Mexico and thus need not reach the further question of whether the confession should have been excluded had the stop been illegal.