D.S.D.: Inevitable discovery cures a Rodriguez violation

While extending the stop violated Rodriguez, inevitable discovery applies and the evidence is not suppressed. United States v. Conteh, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 25542 (D. S.D. Feb. 16, 2018):

For purposes of the Wong Sun hearing only, the court finds the testimony of Trooper Bader and SA Saroff credible. The court finds the government has shown by a preponderance of the evidence that Trooper Bader’s discovery of the July 10 Fusion Report was inevitable and independent of the traffic stop, and that the law enforcement agencies’ activities discussed above show they were independently and actively pursuing investigations at the time of the July 10, 2015, Fourth Amendment violation. Nix, 467 U.S. at 446; Conner, 127 F.3d at 667.

The court finds the government has shown by a preponderance of the evidence that SA Saroff conducted an independent investigation which discovered information “by means wholly independent of any constitutional violation.” Nix, 467 U.S. at 443. The information he received on July 11, 2015, and thereafter from the states of South Dakota, Wyoming, Colorado and Nebraska was obtained from lawful sources and by lawful means independent of the July 10, 2015, police misconduct. Id.; see also Segura, 468 U.S. at 805.