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State v. Sims

Defendant's consent to search his vehicle was tainted by his impermissible detention.

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Thomas Sims, Jr. was pulled over for speeding, and caught driving with a suspended license and without insurance. After the traffic stop was complete, the officer asked whether Sims had drugs or weapons in his car, then he asked for and obtained consent to search the car. The search uncovered marijuana. The trial court agreed to suppress the marijuana, and the state appeals. The issue raised is whether an officer illegally exceeds the scope of a valid traffic stop by asking for information unrelated to the traffic stop and for consent to search for drugs while the person is still being detained and without articulable suspicion of a crime.

Sims, with two passengers, was stopped for speeding, and the officer asked to see his driver’s license and insurance card. Sims’ license was suspended and his insurance had expired, and the officer cited him for speeding and no insurance, then gave him notice of the suspended status of his license. Sims signed the citations. The officer kept the license because it was suspended, and, as the officer later testified, at this point the traffic stop was over. However, because Sims had no insurance, the car had to be towed. At the hearing, the officer admitted that at that moment, he had no probable cause or articulable suspicion that Sims had any contraband in his car.

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