Opinion ID: 891705
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Duran's two-prong analysis remains the test for reasonableness of police questioning during traffic stops under Article II, Section 10.

Text: {53} We have consistently said that `Article II, Section 10 expresses the fundamental notion that every person in this state is entitled to be free from unwarranted governmental intrusions,' and thus identified a broader protection to individual privacy under the New Mexico Constitution than under the Fourth Amendment. Garcia, 2009-NMSC-046, ¶ 29, 147 N.M. 134, 217 P.3d 1032 (quoting Gutierrez, 116 N.M. at 444, 863 P.2d at 1065). Article II, Section 10 is calibrated slightly differently than the Fourth Amendment. It is a foundation of both personal privacy and the integrity of the criminal justice system, as well as the ultimate regulator of police conduct. Id. ¶ 31. As in Garcia, in this case we primarily are concerned with regulating police conduct. See id. ¶ 26. We must now determine whether the Fourth Amendment's bright-line rule or Duran 's case-by-case analysis is better calibrated to protect the rights of individuals on New Mexico's roadways from unwarranted police intrusions under the New Mexico Constitution. {54} New Mexico courts have consistently rejected federal bright-line rules in favor of an examination into the reasonableness of officers' actions under the circumstances of each case. Ochoa, 2009-NMCA-002, ¶ 24, 146 N.M. 32, 206 P.3d 143. This opposition to bright-line rules greatly influenced our adoption in Duran of a two-part test, tracking the Terry analysis, to questions during traffic stops. See supra ¶¶ 13-14. Duran rejected the approach later adopted by the United States Supreme Court in Caballes, Muehler, and Johnson because [w]e have continually used a fact-based, case-by-case approach to determine what questions are reasonably related to the initial justification for the stop and whether an officer had reasonable suspicion to expand the scope of his or her search or seizure during an investigatory stop. 2005-NMSC-034, ¶ 34, 138 N.M. 414, 120 P.3d 836. Since Duran was decided, our cases construing Article II, Section 10 have persisted in rejecting bright-line rules. See, e.g., Rivera, 2010-NMSC-046, ¶ 23, 148 N.M. 659, 241 P.3d 1099 (declining to adopt the Fourth Amendment private search doctrine under Article II, Section 10 due to our constitution's strong preference for a warrant); Garcia, 2009-NMSC-046, ¶ 37, 147 N.M. 134, 217 P.3d 1032 (retaining the totality of the circumstances free-to-leave test for seizures under Article II, Section 10); Rowell, 2008-NMSC-041, ¶ 20, 144 N.M. 371, 188 P.3d 95 (rejecting a bright-line rule for car searches incident to arrest in favor of a case-by-case approach); State v. Bomboy, 2008-NMSC-029, ¶¶ 5, 8, 144 N.M. 151, 184 P.3d 1045 (applying the fact-specific reasonableness inquiry rather than the bright-line rule sanctioned under the Fourth Amendment). {55} Duran's analysis, requiring a reasonable justification for the initial stop and that all questions asked during the stop be reasonably related to the reason for the stop or otherwise supported by reasonable suspicion, see supra ¶ 13, ensures that investigating officers do not engage in fishing expeditions during traffic stops. See Neal, 2007-NMSC-043, ¶ 28, 142 N.M. 176, 164 P.3d 57. This approach comports better with the broader protections provided under Article II, Section 10, which we have determined are best analyzed under a case-by-case approach rather than bright-line temporal tests developed under the Fourth Amendment. We conclude that Duran 's two-part analysis, adhering to the scope and duration requirements set forth in Terry, best protects the right against unreasonable searches and seizures under Article II, Section 10 of the New Mexico Constitution. Article II, Section 10 requires that all questions asked during the investigation of a traffic stop be reasonably related to the initial reason for the stop. Unrelated questions are permissible when supported by independent reasonable suspicion, for reasons of officer safety, or if the interaction has developed into a consensual encounter. See Duran, 2005-NMSC-034, ¶ 35, 138 N.M. 414, 120 P.3d 836. The overall reasonableness of the stop continues to be determined by balancing the public interest in the enforcement of traffic laws against an individual's right to liberty, privacy, and freedom from arbitrary police interference. Id. ¶ 22 (citing Mimms, 434 U.S. at 109, 98 S.Ct. 330). {56} While our rejection of the Supreme Court's bright-line rule for traffic stop questioning is firmly rooted in Article II, Section 10, we note that the rule has come under criticism from scholars and courts alike. Professor LaFave, discussing the bright-line rule later adopted, called it dead wrong[,] and totally at odds with the Terry line of Supreme Court decisions on the limits applicable to temporary detentions, and amount[s] to nothing more than an encouragement to police to engage in pretextual traffic stops so that they may engage in interrogation about drugs in a custodial setting (albeit not custodial enough to bring even the protections of Miranda into play). The correct rule is that followed by some other courts: that in strict accordance with Terry and its progeny, questioning during a traffic stop must be limited to the purpose of the traffic stop and thus may not be extended to the subject of drugs. Wayne R. LaFave, The Routine Traffic Stop From Start to Finish: Too Much Routine, Not Enough Fourth Amendment, 102 Mich. L.Rev. 1843, 1887 (2004) (footnotes omitted); see also State v. Washington, 898 N.E.2d 1200, 1205-06 (Ind.2008) (applying a distinct analysis to a state constitutional claim after determining that questions asked of a driver about contraband did not violate the Fourth Amendment pursuant to Muehler because [t]he Indiana Constitution may protect searches that the federal Constitution does not); Brown v. State, 182 P.3d 624, 626 (Alaska Ct.App.2008) (interpreting the search and seizure protections provided by the state constitution as more protective than the Fourth Amendment because the Fourth Amendment rules governing traffic stops create the potential risk that law enforcement officers will compromise the privacy of many citizens); cf. Jenkins, 3 A.3d at 852 (holding that protections provided under the Connecticut constitution are coextensive with those provided by the Fourth Amendment because [o]ur own constitutional language, precedents and history do not support a ready departure from the federal case law in this area, particularly because the recent United States Supreme Court decisions do not represent a sea change from prior Connecticut precedent).