OH9: Officers walking up on both sides of a parked vehicle wasn’t a “stop”

Two officers walked up on an already parked vehicle, one on each side. The officer testified that he’d be “pretty upset” if the defendant drove off, but he was actually free to leave. Therefore, it was not a stop, and a reasonable person would not think that officers on both sides of his car was a “stop.” State v. Helmick, 2014-Ohio-4187, 2014 Ohio App. LEXIS 4100 (9th Dist. September 24, 2014).* [Yeah, right: free to just drive off. These days you might get shot doing that. This is fiction masquerading as a judicial opinion.]

Defendant was with his girlfriend in her car at a gas pump and her ex showed up and an argument ensued. They claimed the ex had a gun. His car was searched and none was found. The ex said that they had the gun, and their car was searched finding one. Defendant was charged with FIPF, and he didn’t show standing in her car to challenge the search. State v. Simmons, 2014-Ohio-4191, 2014 Ohio App. LEXIS 4106 (9th Dist. September 24, 2014).*

Defendant was stopped for no front LP and an unlighted rear LP. The officer got him out of the car and ran his DL, and then asked if he could run a drug dog around the car, which alerted. This all occurred in 8 minutes and was reasonable. State v. White, 2014-Ohio-4202, 2014 Ohio App. LEXIS 4113 (8th Dist. September 25, 2014).*

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