The outcome of some cases turn on when the defendant is detained and whether there was reasonable suspicion for the detention at that point in time. If the stop is not lawful, the evidence resulting from the stop can sometimes be suppressed under the Fourth Amendment and under Penal Code section 1538.5 in California.
In People v. Brown (2015) __Cal.4th __, Case No. S218993, (Brown), the outcome was determined by the court's analysis of these issues. In Brown, an officer was notified of a 9-1-1 call of a fight in an alley and when he entered the alley, he saw Brown driving his car but no one else. When the officer questioned Brown about seeing the fight, Brown did not respond. The officer came around and saw Brown parked. Pulling up behind Brown, the officer flashed his emergency lights and Brown stayed in the car. The officer saw Brown sitting behind the wheel, apparently intoxicated. Brown was subsequently arrested for DUI.
The court was asked to determine the point in time when Brown was detained and whether there was reasonable suspicion to detain him at that time. The court concludes that Brown was detained when the emergency lights were activated. A reasonable person under the circumstances would not have felt free to leave and Brown submitted to the show of authority by remaining in his parked car. The court further concluded that Brown's brief detention was supported by reasonable suspicion.
copyright © 2015 Christine Esser
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