Court Opinion

ID: 9553052
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 19:21:13.605635+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:29:37.111413
License: Public Domain

Green, J.;
dissenting: The majority states that the police officer did not violate the defendant’s Fourth Amendment right against illegal seizures when he stopped the defendant, because such a stop is permissible under State v. Vistuba, 251 Kan. 821, 840 P.2d 511 (1992).
In Vistuba, our Kansas Supreme Court recognized the public safety stop, which justified the stopping of a vehicle even though there was no reasonable suspicion of any criminal activity by the driver. The court stated: “Safety reasons alone may justify the stop, if the safety reasons are based upon specific and articulable facts.” 251 Kan. at 824.
In Vistuba, the officer observed a driver weaving his vehicle on and off the road. The officer testified she pulled the driver over because she was afraid the driver might be falling asleep, although she had no reasonable suspicion of any criminal activity. This case, however, is distinguishable from Vistuba. Here, Officer Evans did not observe the defendant’s alleged erratic driving before stopping him. Moreover, Evans testified the only reason he stopped the defendant was because of the anonymous tip information he received from his dispatcher.
Furthermore, although no criminal activity was suspected in Vistuba, criminal activity was clearly suspected in this case. For instance, the dispatcher told Evans that the defendant was driving erratically and was possibly intoxicated. In State v. Fields, 252 Kan. 657, 662, 847 P.2d 1280 (1992), the court distinguished Vistuba by stating:
“In Vistuba, the officer testified she did not suspect any criminal activity, while in the present case, Officer Bunger suspected the driver of the pickup was driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, a crime. The issue here is whether such suspicion was reasonable under the facts of this case.”
Like Fields, the issue here is whether the anonymous tip furnished Evans reasonable suspicion to justify his stop of the defendant. Reasonable suspicion is dependent on both the content *933of information possessed by police and its degree of reliability. Both quantity and quality of the information are considered in the totality of circumstances that must be taken into account when evaluating whether there is reasonable suspicion. Alabama v. White, 496 U.S. 325, 330, 110 L. Ed. 2d 301, 110 S. Ct. 2412 (1990).
The majority cites State v. Pully, 863 S.W.2d 29 (Tenn. 1993), for the proposition that a threat of a violent crime may, under certain circumstances, make an anonymous tip, otherwise lacking in sufficient indicia of reliability, sufficient to justify an investigatory stop. Although I do not entirely disagree with the proposition set forth in Pully, the facts in this case are distinguishable from the facts in Pully. For instance, the police officer in Pully received two urgent anonymous reports that Pully was driving a yellow Ford LTD in a certain trailer park, that he was armed with a shotgun, and that he was “supposed to shoot someone.” 863 S.W.2d at 29-30. In addition, the investigating officer responding to the reports knew Pully. Unlike Pully, the officer in our case did not know the defendant. There was also no report that the defendant was armed with a dangerous weapon. Although a car can be a dangerous weapon under certain circumstances, a car is not considered inherently dangerous as is a shotgun or firearm. Finally, there was no report that the defendant had threatened anybody.
In Pully, after applying the White analysis to reliability of the tip, the court conceded, absent the threat of a violent crime, the tip would not furnish reasonable suspicion to stop Pully in all circumstances. Clearly, because the tip here failed to establish the threat of a violent crime, the tip could not furnish reasonable suspicion to stop the defendant.
Applying the White analysis to the facts of this case, the information furnished by the caller failed to show any inside information or familiarity with the defendant’s affairs. For instance, the caller reported that a white male, who was driving a 1960’s model red Ford pickup southbound on K-61 from Inman, was running other drivers, off the road. I venture to say that it would not be all that unusual for a person to see a white male driving a 1960’s model red Ford pickup southbound on K-61 from Inman. Moreover, this description lacked any distinguishing character*934istics of the pickup, such as a license number or a dent. See United States v. Jones, 998 F.2d 883 (10th Cir. 1993).
Finally, Evans made no effort to fully corroborate the tip before deciding to stop the defendant. In fact, Evans testified that he stopped the defendant’s pickup not because he observed any erratic driving or unlawful behavior, but only because of the anonymous tip call made to the dispatcher. Because the anonymous tip did not exhibit sufficient indicia of reliability to justify the investigatory stop of the defendant’s pickup, I would reverse the trial court and remand with directions that the evidence obtained from the defendant as a result of the investigatory stop be suppressed.