Opinion ID: 164061
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Reasonableness of Traffic Stop

Text: Trooper Epperly testified that he initially stopped the Expedition because he believed it did not have a registration tag or license plate. Poke concedes that the initial stop was valid but argues that once Trooper Epperly determined that a temporary registration tag was affixed to the back window of the vehicle, the continued detention exceeded the scope of the stop. Poke relies on United States v. McSwain , 29 F.3d 558, 561 (10th Cir. 1994). We agree with the government, however, that McSwain does not control the outcome of this case. In McSwain , the highway patrol officer was able to see the temporary registration tag posted in the rear window of the vehicle but “stopped the vehicle to verify the validity of the temporary sticker.” Id. at 560. The officer approached the vehicle and satisfied himself that the temporary sicker was valid and had not expired. Id. The officer then had no further grounds on which to detain the occupants of the vehicle. Id. at 561. Accordingly, this court reversed the denial of the motion to suppress, concluding that the initially valid stop evolved into an unreasonable detention. Id. at 561-62. This court distinguished the situation in McSwain from those “situations in which the officer, at the time he or she asks questions or requests the driver’s license and registration, still has some objectively reasonable articulable suspicion that a traffic violation has occurred or is occurring.” Id. at 561 (citations and quotations omitted). -6- This case involves the situation not present in McSwain . Kansas law requires that all vehicle registrations be “clearly visible” and “clearly legible.” Kan. Stat. Ann. § 8-133. The improper display of a license plate or temporary registration tag is a violation of Kansas law. State v. Hayes , 660 P.2d 1387, 1389 (Kan. Ct. App. 1983) (concluding “that the display of an illegible or obscured vehicle tag is a violation of K.S.A. 8-133 even if the vehicle is duly licensed in another state”). Although Poke argues that Epperly did not have reasonable suspicion to believe that the temporary tag was displayed improperly, he does not directly challenge the district court’s finding that Officer Epperly could not see the Expedition’s temporary tag as it traveled along the interstate. We therefore reject Poke’s argument and conclude that Officer Epperly properly detained Poke because he continued to have an objectively reasonable suspicion that a traffic violation was occurring, albeit not the violation for which he initially stopped the Expedition. The continued detention and questioning of Poke was not unreasonable under the Fourth Amendment. 2