Monday, August 1, 2016

The Stop and Search of a Car for Using Their High Beams Considered Unreasonable

A traffic stop of a car for using high beam headlights in a residential area, although reasonable, was mistaken, making the stop and subsequent search without cause.

State v. Scriven, 2016 BL 232318, N.J., No. A-11, 7/20/16.

   A police officer’s stop and search of a vehicle driving with their high beams on in a residential neighborhood was not reasonable, the New Jersey Supreme Court held. During the search, the officer found an unlicensed firearm in the possession of the driver. The language of the high beam law under the New Jersey law requires drivers to “dim their high beams only when approaching an oncoming vehicle.” The court further elaborated by saying “The statute does not state that high beams may be used only on rural or unlit suburban roads at night, but not on a seemingly well-lit deserted city street at 3:30 a.m. Neither a car parked on a perpendicular street nor an on-foot police officer count as an oncoming vehicle.”

   Prosecutors in the case argued that the initial stop and discovery of an unlicensed handgun was justified according to a North Carolina decision, which provides that a reasonable mistake of law that forms the basis for a finding of reasonable suspicion justifies a stop. The New Jersey court disagreed. Prosecutors also argued that the officer appropriately acted under the community-caretaker doctrine because “something could have been wrong with the driver” or the high beams created a public safety hazard. This argument, like the other, was also rejected. The officer’s only purpose in stopping in the driver was because he thought he was breaking the law, which was a mistake.

http://www.bloomberglaw.com/public/document/State_v_Scriven_No_A11_September_Term_2015_2016_BL_232318_NJ_July.

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