OH3: Where there’s cause for a traffic stop, the ulterior motive to question the passenger about drugs really doesn’t matter

If there is cause for a traffic stop, the ulterior motive to question the passenger about drugs really doesn’t matter. State v. Gartrell, 2014-Ohio-5203, 2014 Ohio App. LEXIS 5044 (3d Dist. November 24, 2014):

[*P69] We next address Gartrell’s argument that Isom exceeded the scope of the stop when he “immediately questioned” Gartrell after Utley stopped the cab. (Appellant’s Brief at 14). We concluded above that Utley’s stop of the cab was not unconstitutional. To the extent Gartrell argues that his constitutional rights were violated because he was detained in the cab during a traffic stop, we reject his argument because officers may detain passengers of a lawfully stopped vehicle for the duration of the lawful detention of the driver. Fry, 2007-Ohio-3240, at ¶ 16. Utley was speaking with the cab driver concerning why she stopped him while, in Gartrell’s words, Isom began to “immediately question” him. Therefore, the officers’ detention of Gartrell did not extend beyond the lawful detention of the driver.