What Reasonable Suspicion is not

Chris S. Barnett — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 05:09:00 GMT

In Texas, for a law enforcement officer to stop a vehicle, they must have something called "reasonable suspicion" to believe a crime has occurred or is occuring. This is less than probable cause (needed for an arrest), but more than a mere hunch. In a recent case reversed on appeal, the Court found the following was not reasonable suspicion.

"On November 19, 2008, Troopers Chad Foster and Jacob Gamez were on patrol on Highway 385 in Hartley County. The highway, purportedly, was a main traffic route for drug dealers. The officers observed a vehicle pass them in the opposite direction and decided to turn and follow it. They grew suspicious of whom they saw because 1) the vehicle in which they rode was clean or lacked road grime, 2) the young occupants did not "fit" the year and model of the vehicle, the latter being a 1999 Lumina, 3) the troopers thought the vehicle's occupants should have been in a sportier car, 4) both occupants simultaneously looked away from the officers as the vehicles met and passed, 5) the occupants turned their hats around so they faced forward after passing the troopers, 6) the car slowed and came to almost a complete stop at a blinking caution light adjacent to an intersection, and 7) the driver drove within the speed limit."

The Court went on to say:

"It is not a crime in this State to drive a clean car, look away from passing police officers, drive a vehicle of one's choice, obey traffic warnings, and abide by posted speed limits. Nor did either the State or officers proffer reasonable explanation as to how one could rationally interpret such conduct as potentially criminal. For instance, we are left to guess at why a young adult driving an older car insinuated that he was a criminal. Moreover, accepting such a proposition would be tantamount to concluding that only those young adults without sufficient means to acquire a newer car engage in criminal activity, and such is not the case. Similarly insupportable is the notion that following traffic laws and heeding traffic warnings connotes some manner of misconduct. Rather, following the law tends to suggest that one is engaging in lawful activity, and we hesitate to conclude otherwise without basis for doing so."

As ridiculous as this story may sound, it happens.

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What Reasonable Suspicion is not