Court Opinion

ID: 9738159
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 19:43:38.744258+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:24:04.042188
License: Public Domain

RILEY, Judge,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent as to both Issues I and II. Regarding Issue I, I do not believe that smell alone is sufficiently trustworthy information upon which to satisfy the reasonable suspicion requirement justifying an investigatory stop. Regarding Issue II, I believe that a one hour detention is too lengthy to remain within the constitutional confines of an investigatory stop.
I.
In balancing the reasonableness of investigatory stops, courts must strike “a balance between the public interest and the individual’s right to personal security free from arbitrary interference by law [enforcement] officers.” Carter v. State, 692 N.E.2d 464, 466 (Ind.Ct.App.1997) (quoting Brown v. Texas, 443 U.S. 47, 50, 99 S.Ct. 2637, 61 L.Ed.2d 357 (1979)). When balancing these competing interests in different factual contexts, a central concern is “that an individual’s reasonable expectation of privacy is not subject to arbitrary invasions solely at the unfettered discretion of officers in the field.” Carter, 692 N.E.2d at 466 (quoting Brown, 443 U.S. at 51, 99 S.Ct. 2637). Hence, reasonable suspicion must be comprised of more than an officer’s general “hunches” or unparticular-ized suspicions. See Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 27, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968).
“Reasonable suspicion” entails some minimum level of objective justification — that is, something more than an inchoate and unpar-ticularized suspicion or “hunch”, but considerably less than proof of wrongdoing by a preponderance of the evidence. D.H. v. State, 688 N.E.2d 221, 223 (Ind.Ct.App.1997) (citing Luster v. State, 578 N.E.2d 740, 743 (Ind.Ct.App.1991)). If facts known by the police officer at the time of the “stop” are such that a man of reasonable caution would believe that the action taken was appropriate, the command of the Fourth Amendment is satisfied. Lampkins v. State, 682 N.E.2d 1268, 1271 (Ind.1997), modified on other grounds on reh’g; Terry, 392 U.S. at 22, 88 S.Ct. 1868.
The majority’s apparent adoption of the “plain smell” exception to the warrant requirement represents a sweeping change to, and in my opinion an unnecessary deterioration of, our State’s Fourth Amendment jurisprudence. This is a change that I am unwilling to make. I find that the more sound *1129approach is to require some additional indicia of contraband. The majority seems to rely on Officer McDonald’s training and experience in the detection of illicit drugs as corroborative evidence. Whether Officer McDonald is trained in drug interdiction does not change the fact that his sole justification for the investigatory stop leading to the search was his belief that he smelled marijuana.
I agree with the majority that Officer McDonald had reasonable suspicion to justify the initial investigatory stop of Kenner’s vehicle that ended with the issuance of a warning ticket. I disagree, however, with the majority’s analysis regarding the propriety of the subsequent search of Kenner’s vehicle. An investigatory stop of a citizen by an officer does not violate that citizen’s constitutional rights where the officer has a reasonably articulable suspicion of criminal activity. Lampkins, 682 N.E.2d at 1271. Probable cause is not necessary. Id. Once the officer has made a valid investigatory or Terry stop, the officer is entitled for his own protection, if he has a reasonable fear of danger, to conduct a carefully limited search of the outer clothing of the suspect in an attempt to discover weapons which might be used to assault him. Terry, 392 U.S. at 27, 88 S.Ct. 1868. The limited purpose of this exception to the warrant requirement is to enable a police officer to pursue his investigation without fear of violence. In addition, there are several other narrow exceptions to the warrant requirement which enable an officer to search the area within the detainee’s immediate control. See e.g. Chimel v. California, 395 U.S. 752, 89 S.Ct. 2034, 23 L.Ed.2d 685 (1969) (Incident to a lawful arrest, the arresting officer may conduct a warrantless search of the arrestee’s person and the area within his or her immediate control). Officer McDonald did not indicate that he was fearful for his safety or that he believed Kenner possessed a weapon. Based upon my review of the facts of this case, I fail to see that any reason existed to hold Kenner for any further investigation. Therefore, Officer McDonald’s subsequent search of the vehicle was not constitutionally sound. Officer McDonald’s reasonable suspicion justified only the initial traffic stop of Kenner’s vehicle. A further search would have been justified only if one of the narrowly defined exceptions to the warrant requirement were met or probable cause arose after the stop to justify an arrest and search incident thereto.
Because I do not think that there was probable cause to justify a warrantless search and I would not apply the “plain smell” exception in the same manner as the majority, I respectfully dissent.
II.
The majority holds that Kenner’s detention at the scene of the traffic stop was constitutional. I disagree. Kenner was initially stopped at 7:49 p.m., at which time Officer McDonald says he detected the odor of marijuana. Officer McDonald did not dispatch a canine unit until 8:16 p.m., and the unit arrived thirty minutes later. When Officer McDonald requested the canine unit, he informed Kenner that he was free to go but that the car had to remain. An investigatory stop begins either when the person being questioned is no longer free to leave or when his property-is detained. United States v. Mendenhall, 446 U.S. 544, 100 S.Ct. 1870, 64 L.Ed.2d 497 (1980); United States v. Place, 462 U.S. 696, 103 S.Ct. 2637, 77 L.Ed.2d 110 (1983). Hence, Kenner was detained for approximately one hour.
The predicate permitting seizures on suspicion short of probable cause is that law enforcement interests warrant a limited intrusion on the personal security of the suspect. The scope of the intrusion permitted will vary to some extent with the particular facts and circumstances of each case. This much, however, is clear: an investigative detention must be temporary and last no longer than is necessary to effectuate the purpose of the stop. Florida v. Royer, 460 U.S. 491, 500, 103 S.Ct. 1319, 75 L.Ed.2d 229 (1983); Baker v. State, 485 N.E.2d 122, 124 (Ind.1985).
Under the facts and circumstances of this case, I find that a one hour detention at the scene of a traffic stop is unreasonable.