M.D.Pa.: Def kept talking about her husband’s drug activities after ticket issued; that was a consensual extension of the stop

An unlit license plate light was enough for a stop. “Because Defendant had already been issued a traffic citation and then proceeded to initiate further conversation with Officer Monte about her husband’s drug-related activities, the court finds that, under the circumstances, the traffic stop became a consensual encounter. Defendant, not Officer Monte, extended the duration of the stop to voluntarily disclose information regarding her husband’s drug activities.” United States v. Hodge, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 95595 (M.D. Pa. June 21, 2017).*

Defendant argues against the factual findings underlying the trial court consent findings and fails. “In short, the trial court found that the factual predicates to Appellant’s suppression claim were simply not true; i.e., that Appellant was not so intoxicated or deficient in English that his waiver and consent were not freely given. Our independent review of the record supports these findings, and we are, therefore, bound by them.” Commonwealth v. Quiles, 2017 PA Super 197, 2017 Pa. Super. LEXIS 459 (June 23, 2017).*

This entry was posted in Consent, Standards of review. Bookmark the permalink.

Comments are closed.