Court Opinion

ID: 9726319
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 12:43:50.900454+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:25:26.025258
License: Public Domain

JUSTICE CARMAN, concurring in part and dissenting in part: I agree with the majority that the initial seizure of defendant, incidental to the permissible stop of a vehicle in which he was a passenger, was lawful. In addition, despite my joining the special concurrence in People v. Gonzalez, 204 Ill. 2d 220 (2003), I agree that this case must be resolved by application of the rule adopted by the Gonzalez majority, which is now stare decisis. However, unlike the majority, I conclude that the questions asked by the officer were permissible. When engaged in a lawful traffic stop, an officer may direct a passenger to remain in or to exit the vehicle. See Maryland v. Wilson, 519 U.S. 408, 415, 137 L. Ed. 2d 41, 48, 117 S. Ct. 882, 886 (1997); People v. Sorenson, 196 Ill. 2d 425, 433 (2001); People v. Gonzalez, 184 Ill. 2d 402, 420 (1998). The officer may also question the passenger during the seizure if the questions are either related to the initial justification for the stop or based on reasonable articulable suspicion of the passenger. Gonzalez, 204 Ill. 2d at 235. If the questions are not justified on either of these bases, questioning is permissible only if it does not prolong the detention of the passenger or change “the fundamental nature of the stop.” Gonzalez, 204 Ill. 2d at 235. Facially innocuous questions that the passenger could decline to answer do not change the stop’s fundamental nature. Gonzalez, 204 Ill. 2d at 236. In the present case, the officer asked the passenger’s name and where he and the driver were coming from. Although these questions might have been innocuous in nature (207 Ill. 2d at 27 (Thomas, J., dissenting)), they were asked while the officer was asserting his authority by shining the beam of his flashlight in the defendant’s face. Because the stop occurred in the early morning hours and because the officer was alone, I cannot say that it was improper for him to make a show of authority by using his flashlight in this manner. However, because of this display of authority, defendant’s answers to the questions cannot be deemed voluntary. The majority correctly observes that the officer did not ask defendant questions directly related to the purpose of the stop, such as if he had a valid driver’s license and was willing and able to drive the car. Further, the officer had no reasonable articulable suspicion of the defendant. 207 Ill. 2d at 17. I part company from the majority at this point in the analysis. The majority concludes that the questioning was improper because it occurred “after the purpose of the stop was concluded.” (Emphasis in original.) 207 Ill. 2d at 17. In effect, the majority blurs the distinction between the two prongs of the inquiry adopted in Gonzalez when it states that the officer “prolonged defendant’s detention” (the duration factor) after “the purpose of the stop” (the scope factor) was completed. 207 Ill. 2d at 17. There is no suggestion in the record that the two simple questions (“What’s your name? Where [are] you coming from?”), asked shortly after directing defendant to exit the car and stand near the driver, unnecessarily prolonged the detention of defendant. This situation is, therefore, entirely distinguishable from the impermissibly prolonged detention at issue in People v. Brownlee, 186 Ill. 2d 501, 519-20 (1999), in which the officers, after determining that no traffic citation would be issued, nevertheless kept the occupants of the car from departing until they agreed to permit the car to be searched. Thus, the determinative issue is whether these two simple questions altered the fundamental nature of the stop. The special concurrence in Gonzalez pointed out that the majority had not explained “what type of questioning would change the fundamental nature of the stop.” Gonzalez, 204 Ill. 2d at 242 (Thomas, J., specially concurring, joined by Garman, J.). The present case requires us to consider this question. Almost a year before this court decided Gonzalez and adopted the two-pronged duration-and-scope inquiry, the appellate court considered the question of the permissible scope of questioning during a traffic stop in People v. White, 331 Ill. App. 3d 22 (2002). The defendant was the driver of a car that was validly stopped by police, who then inquired about items they saw in the backseat of the car, even going so far as to ask to see sales receipts. The receipts produced by the defendant contained a different name from his and led to the discovery that the items had been obtained illegally. The defendant was charged with forgery and theft by deception. White, 331 Ill. App. 3d at 24. The defendant argued that the officer violated his fourth amendment rights by questioning him about matters unrelated to the purpose of the traffic stop. White, 331 Ill. App. 3d at 25. The State argued that an officer is not prohibited from making inquiries unrelated to the purpose of the stop, so long as the stop itself and the length of the detention were otherwise lawful. White, 331 Ill. App. 3d at 24. The appellate court relied on many of the same cases that were cited by the Gonzalez majority when it concluded: “While a police officer making a lawful stop of a motorist is not precluded from making reasonable inquiries concerning the purpose of the stop, the scope of the activities and questioning by the police during an investigatory detention must be reasonably related to the circumstances that initially justified the stop. [Citation.] An officer may expand the scope of his detention beyond that which is reasonably related to the circumstances only when the officer has a reasonable and articulable suspicion that other criminal activity may be afoot or where matters that arise during the course of the stop cause the officer reasonable suspicion. [Citation.] Questioning wholly unrelated to the purposes of the stop, which is reasonably calculated to elicit incriminating responses, is impermissible unless supported by independent, reasonable, and articulable suspicion.” (Emphasis added.) White, 331 Ill. App. 3d at 34. The White court concluded that “the officer’s questions regarding the ownership of the items in the car were intrusive and calculated to elicit possibly incriminating responses.” White, 331 Ill. App. 3d at 34-35. The appellate court affirmed the trial court’s suppression order. White, 331 Ill. App. 3d at 35. In my opinion, White provides a useful framework for application of the scope prong of the Gonzalez inquiry. If the questions posed by the officer are unrelated to the purpose of the stop, then they are improper if they are reasonably calculated to elicit an incriminating response. Thus, if the basis of the stop is a broken headlight, a question about what is in a duffle bag in the backseat would be improper in the absence of independent, reasonable, and articulable suspicion. Not all questions fall into these two categories, however. A question may be unrelated to the purpose of the stop, but not likely to elicit an incriminating response. The questions posed by the officer in the present case (“What’s your name? Where [are] you coming from?”) are of this variety. The answers to these questions had nothing to do with the initial purpose of the stop, which was to investigate a suspected inoperative brake light, yet they were not likely to elicit incriminating information. Indeed, it was not defendant’s answers that incriminated him. It was the fact that, as he spoke, he revealed the packet of drugs that he was trying to conceal in his mouth. In sum, I conclude that defendant was lawfully seized when the car in which he was riding was stopped for investigation of a possible traffic violation. Even though the driver was placed under arrest and the officer intended to impound the car, the lawful seizure of defendant was still in effect when the officer told him where to stand and asked him two questions while shining a flashlight in his face. Therefore, the questions did not impermissibly prolong the duration of his detention. The questions themselves were permissible because they did not change the fundamental nature of the stop by seeking to elicit incriminating information unrelated to the purpose of the stop. I would reverse the appellate court and affirm the trial court’s denial of defendant’s motion to quash arrest and suppress evidence.