Opinion ID: 848654
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Permissible Questioning

Text: The questions Why the rush? and Where are you headed in such a hurry? from a police officer may be reasonably related to a traffic stop for speeding. They seek an admission of speeding. But questions about a driver's destination, purpose, length of stay, and with whom he will be staying are meant to inquire into issues beyond a speeding offense. Not only have they nothing to do with a speeding offense, they are not helpful to a police officer's decision to release the driver or to issue a citation or warning. [1] Ante at 641. On direct examination, Trooper Varoni testified that he asked defendant where he was going and that defendant offered that he was going into Cheboygan to visit friends and that he was staying at the Holiday Inn. However, it is apparent from the cross-examination of Trooper Varoni that defendant did not volunteer this information to the trooper in response to a general question. Instead, as Trooper Varoni admitted: A. Uh, it's-it's my practice to ask more than just for those three pieces of uh, documentation [referring to license, registration, and insurance paperwork].    Q. All right. And then you proceeded to further this investigation by questioning Mr. Williams as to um, issues of where he was going and what he was going to do when he was there, is that correct? A. Yes. Q. And these questions weren't relevant to how fast he was going, were they? A. II ask everybody I stop where they're going to and where they are coming from.    Q. My question was; the question about where he's going and how long he is staying is not relevant to how fast he's going and the purpose for your stop; is it? A. That's correct. Without question, the trooper asked defendant questions that exceeded the scope of legal inquiry regarding a speeding offense. The trooper evoked an answer regarding the location where defendant was planning to spend the night. He also asked defendant if defendant had any prior narcotics convictions. Trooper Varoni testified: Um, I asked him if he had been in trouble before and uh, he told me that he had. I asked if it had any-you know, related narcotics [sic], if he'd ever been arrested for anything to do with drugs and he told me that he had. I asked him for what and he said marijuana. This question likewise was unrelated to the purpose of the traffic stop. Once defendant stated that he was staying at a Holiday Inn in Cheboygan in response to a question about where he would spend the night, the purpose of the investigation changed. Trooper Varoni's subsequent questions, having nothing to do with the scope of the traffic stop, changed the fundamental nature of the stop. What began as a routine traffic stop became an all-encompassing criminal investigation. Trooper Varoni admitted it: Q. Your purpose of the initial stop had seized [sic]; you weren't investigating speeding violation [sic] anymore were you? A. No, no I wasn't.