Saturday, August 26, 2006

US v. Choudry, No. 05-10810 (8-25-06). The 9th holds that a civil parking violation, handled administratively , provides reasonable suspicion under Whren v. US, 517 U.S. 806 (1996) for an investigatory stop. Here, San Francisco officers noticed an illegally parked car, and hurried movements that (horrors) indicated sexual activity or some other illegal act was taking place. Well, it turns out that licenses had been suspended, an odor of marijuana hung in the air, and eventually a gun was found, and since the defendant was a prohibited possessor, this conditional plea and appeal followed. The 9th joins other circuits in reading Whren broadly to encompass not only criminal traffic violations, but all traffic violations. A parking violation alone can lead to an investigatory stop. Be sure to carry enough change for meters.

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home