Tuesday, April 11, 2006

Troubling Stop Results in Consensual Search

U.S. v. Flores-Ocampo, 2006 WL 856220 (4/4/06)(unpub'd) - Troubling stop that was not challenged due to the bad pretext law. Kansas officer was looking for new, rented and out-of-state vehicles on I-35. The officer saw a young Hispanic in a "nice-looking" car with an Indiana license plate. He followed the car for three miles. He stopped the car immediately after the car crossed the white fog line once. The rest was history. The inevitable consent to search the car and move it to the police station was knowing and voluntary, despite the officer's horrible Spanish ("We have muchos drogas on highway. Any muchos drogas en su carro?"), and the defendant's limited English comprehension.