Routine Traffic Stop Dismissed with No Client Record

Many arrests come from routine traffic stops. You would be shocked by how many people find themselves at the wrong place at the wrong time. It happens all the time. In the early morning hours, a police officer alleged that he saw my client approach a four-way intersection while driving, slow but not come to a complete stop, and pass through a stop sign. The officer turned on his overhead emergency lights and then stopped my client’s car.

A “stop” is a very important moment for a citizen. In Massachusetts, the police may stop a car when the officer has “reasonable suspicion” that the occupants are committing, or are about to, commit a crime.  The police are also allowed to stop a car if an officer sees a civil motor vehicle infraction. Essentially, this gives the police virtually limitless authority to pull people over. Sunglasses hanging down from the rearview mirror? Expired registration decal on your license plate? Broken taillight or missing license plate light bulb? Excessively tinted windows? These are all valid reasons for a police officer to stop you.  What’s more, if the traffic stop was lawful, it does not matter what the officer’s underlying motive for the stop was.  That means that the police may use an observed traffic violation as an excuse for investigating other suspected wrongdoing or criminal activity.  For example, if the officer has a suspicion that the driver may be in possession of drugs, that officer can stop the car so long as sees a motor vehicle infraction, such as the wheels going over the white fog line on the right side of the road or speeding (even if it’s 5 MPH over the speed limit). 

Once my client was stopped, he was “seized” within the meanings of the Federal and Massachusetts constitutions. This is important because the seizure (the initial stop) must be lawful. Remember: a police officer is justified in stopping a car if there is reasonable suspicion that the person stopped is committing, has committed, or is about to commit a crime, or if the officer has observed a traffic infraction.  Here, the stop appeared to be lawful because the officer saw my client commit a traffic violation by failing to stop at a stop sign.  What happened next, however, was illegal.