Court of Appeals of New York

In this case, defendant's vehicle was stopped by a police officer after the officer observed the vehicle driving past a stop sign without stopping. After defendant failed field sobriety tests and a breath analysis revealed that her blood alcohol level was over the legal limit, defendant was arrested and charged with failing to stop at a stop sign and driving while intoxicated. Defendant moved to suppress the evidence resulting from the initial stop, asserting a lack of probable cause for the initial stop, given that the stop sign was not properly registered. The order of the County Court granting defendant's motion to suppress is reversed, defendant's motion to suppress is denied, and the case is remitted for further proceedings, where, if a traffic stop is based upon a police officer's objectively reasonable but mistaken view of the law, as here, the stop is constitutional.

Appellate Information

• Decided 04/07/2015
• Published 04/07/2015

Judges

• Stein

Court

• Court of Appeals of New York

Counsel