Court Opinion

ID: 9819593
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-01 06:28:24.032776+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:38:31.234415
License: Public Domain

JUSTICE GROMETER, specially concurring: The majority in reaching their decision overrule the recent decision of this court in People v. Manders, 317 Ill. App. 3d 337 (2000). I find this to be unnecessary on the facts of this case. In Manders this appellate court upheld the finding of the trial court that there was no probable cause shown to stop a motorist where the testimony was that the motorist was attempting to pass a truck and wove back and forth within her own lane. In reaching its decision here, the trial court had before it the Manders decision, but it reasoned that there was a difference between the weaving as set forth in Manders and the “swerving” as testified to by the defendant in the instant case. I agree with the trial court and believe the matter should be resolved on that basis. I do not find that Manders “effectively insulates such conduct and unduly hampers effective law enforcement.” 336 111. App. 3d at 258. I think that the two cases read together on their facts point out that law officers still need some violation of the traffic laws before stopping a motor vehicle. Whether “swerving” or “weaving” constitutes a valid basis for a stop turns upon the particular circumstances under which it occurs. In Manders it did not. In the instant case, as the trial judge found, it clearly did.