ID: This motorist was free to ignore the officer’s tapping on his window; he consented to a stop

Defendant was convicted of felony DUI. An officer came up to defendant’s parked car and tapped on the window. Defendant was free to ignore it. State v. Randle, 2012 Ida. App. LEXIS 11 (February 6, 2012). [I still don’t buy this utter fiction. People who ignore police “commands” or even suggestions do it at their peril, and most of them know it. Only the truly street smart would walk away. Probably what’s more laughable is watching the DA and the LEO argue to the court that he was free to ignore it all to justify the stop. In my jurisdiction, and most of them, you’d be arrested for driving off. I’m representing a guy Tasered in the back three times for not responding fast enough to what was supposedly a “consensual encounter.”]

Defendant was stopped for DUI3 based on his making a wide right turn in violation of statute. Because the officer’s interpretation of the statute was reasonable, the stop was based on reasonable suspicion. State v. Dahl, 2012 SD 8, 809 N.W.2d 844 (2012).*

While proximity to a possible crime is not enough to search, the officers here knew more, and that justified the stop of defendant’s vehicle. United States v. Landeros-Sandovar, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 152784 (W.D. Ky. October 28, 2011).*