Court Opinion

ID: 9710075
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 04:01:35.904796+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:22:54.098271
License: Public Domain

SULLIVAN, Judge,
concurring.
I agree that when the officers, at gunpoint, ordered the defendant and the driver to exit the automobile and lie upon the ground with their hands behind their heads, an arrest was effected. I further agree that the arrest was made without probable cause.
The focus of the State's argument, however, is that the broken steering column was discovered pursuant to a valid investigatory stop. Therefore, lack of probable cause for arrest is not dispositive of the admissibility issue.
The State correctly observes that evidence discovered during a search incident to a legitimate investigatory stop is admissible. The facts before us, however, do not reflect a legitimate investigatory stop. The facts and cireumstances discussed in the majority opinion not only reflect absence of probable cause for arrest, but also wholly fail to disclose anything which would prompt a reasonable suspicion of wrongdoing so as to justify the intrusion upon privacy and an investigation. Rutledge v. State (1981) Ind., 426 N.E.2d 638. For this reason, I concur in reversal of the conviction.