A traffic stop is valid if it is supported by reasonable suspicion. During a valid traffic stop, an officer may demand the driver’s license and registration, may run a computer check based on those documents, and so on. But what if the reasonable suspicion supporting the stop dissipates soon after the stop is made? [Editor's note: the North Carolina Court of Appeals decided a case on point after this post was written. For a discussion of that case, see this blog post.] A scenario to illustrate the issue. Suppose that an officer stops a vehicle because it is registered to a person with a revoked license. That’s a valid stop under State v. Hess, 185 N.C. App. 530 (2007) (“[W]hen a police officer becomes aware that a vehicle being operated is registered to an owner with a suspended or revoked driver’s license, and there is no evidence appearing to the officer that the owner is not the individual driving the automobile, reasonable suspicion exists to warrant an investigatory stop.”). As the officer approaches the vehicle, the officer is able to see that the driver is a female, while the registered owner is a male. May the officer nonetheless conduct a license and registration check? Or must the officer immediately allow the driver to depart? As a general rule, the officer must let the driver depart immediately. Most courts have ruled that the officer must let the driver go right away. See 4 Wayne R. LaFave, Search and Seizure § 9.3(c) at [...]
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