Opinion ID: 852398
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Unrelated Questioning Under the Indiana Constitution

Text: Although I agree with the majority's conclusion that the Fourth Amendment does not restrict the scope of the officer's questioning of Washington, I would affirm the trial court's grant of Washington's motion to suppress because I believe continuing the seizure to explore unrelated subjects violated article I, section 11 of the Indiana Constitution. As the majority notes, article I, section 11 of the Indiana Constitution protects citizens against unreasonable seizures, including unreasonable detentions for traffic violations. State v. Quirk, 842 N.E.2d 334, 343 (Ind.2006). A traffic stop is not unreasonable if an officer has observed a traffic violation or reasonably suspects that the motorist is engaged in, or about to engage in, illegal activity. Id. at 340. In a stop based on either probable cause or reasonable suspicion, it is clear that an officer may request the driver's license and registration and may ask about weapons or other threats to officer safety. Lockett v. State, 747 N.E.2d 539, 543 (Ind.2001). It is also clear that an officer may undertake an investigation unrelated to the initial reason for the stop after developing reasonable suspicion of a second violation, for example where the officer smells alcohol on the breath of a driver stopped for speeding. Wilson v. State, 745 N.E.2d 789, 791 (Ind.2001). It is another matter, however, whether a stop grounded only on observation or reasonable suspicion of a traffic violation permits the officer to inquire into any form of illegal activity that strikes his fancy. Indiana statutes and the state and federal constitutions guarantee all citizens freedom from arrest for a chat about potential crimes without probable cause. Unlike the Fourth Amendment analysis, the reasonableness of a traffic stop under the Indiana Constitution turns on a balance of (1) the degree of concern, suspicion, or knowledge that a violation has occurred, (2) the degree of intrusion the method of the search or seizure imposes on the citizen's ordinary activities, and (3) the extent of law enforcement needs. Litchfield v. State, 824 N.E.2d 356, 361 (Ind.2005). The Indiana Constitution, by prohibiting stops without reasonable suspicion, re solves this balance in favor of the individual's privacy if there is no basis to interdict the individual's freedom of movement. I believe a citizen, innocent or not, who is pulled over based on a traffic infraction has the same privacy interest as anyone else, and law enforcement's need to engage that citizen in questioning on unrelated subjects is no greater as to that person than as to any other. As a result, the same constitutional balance requires limiting questioning to the offense justifying the stop. The majority finds sufficient degree of suspicion of a violation because the officer had reason to believe that a traffic violation occurred. The officer's observation of a violation gave him reason to stop Washington, but no reasonable suspicion to extend the seizure to unrelated subjects. Reasonable suspicion of one offense does not justify relaxation of the basic guarantee that seizures be reasonable as to other unrelated possible offenses. To be sure, suspicion of an offense invokes the needs of law enforcement to pursue investigation of that offense. But as Justice Rucker puts it, once that investigation is complete, the officer's job is done. Moreover, an evaluation of the reasonableness of a search or seizure requires that interests of law enforcement be balanced against a concern for excessive discretion in selection of the persons to be investigated. Litchfield, 824 N.E.2d at 360. Because of the sheer number of traffic regulations, police can often generate probable cause or reasonable suspicion to detain a vehicle within a matter of minutes. The ease of justifying a traffic stop gives police wide discretion over which vehicles to stop and raises the danger that this discretion may be used to engage in fishing expeditions as to targeted citizens. We noted this concern in Mitchell v. State, 745 N.E.2d 775, 787 (Ind.2001), where we held that article I, section 11 of the Indiana Constitution does not prohibit police from conducting a justified traffic stop, even if the motive may be investigation of other criminal activity, but cautioned against ensuing police investigatory conduct that may be excessive and un related to the traffic law violation. The majority is correct that the degree of intrusion incident to brief questioning may be short in duration. But unrelated questioning, even if only a single word, does intrude on the driver's privacy interest, and in a context where the driver's freedom has been curtailed, it goes too far. I think the majority's reliance on the extent of law enforcement needs is misplaced. Without some indication of other offenses, the needs of law enforcement in processing a traffic offense are no greater than with respect to any citizen. And if criminal activity is truly afoot, we have accepted the officer's explanations for extended questioning. E.g., Myers v. State, 839 N.E.2d 1146, 1148-49, 1154 (Ind.2005) (describing officer's observations of a strong cologne scent and the driver's shaking hands, nervousness, excited talking, and constricted pupils as significant indicators of contraband); Halsema v. State, 823 N.E.2d 668, 670-71 (Ind.2005) (officer observed vehicle's occupants bending down and making furtive gestures, and noticed a case of beer in the back seat, the driver's bloodshot eyes, and odor of alcohol on the driver's breath). In sum, I believe that the Indiana Constitution requires reasonable suspicion of a separate offense before an officer conducting a traffic stop may broaden the questioning to other subjects beyond those appropriate to process the traffic violation and protect officer safety. Arrests for more serious offenses typically do not afford such wide discretion as to whom to investigate. The extent to which those arrests justify more extensive questioning is a subject for another day.