AI Generated Opinion Summaries

This summary was computer-generated without any editorial revision. It is not official, has not been checked for accuracy, and is NOT citable.

Facts

• The Defendant was stopped by an officer for briefly crossing the center line, leading to his convictions for possession of a narcotic drug and possession of marijuana or synthetic cannabinoids. The officer's initial reason for the stop was based on a belief that the Defendant violated a specific traffic law, but the stop was ultimately justified by a suspicion of impaired driving.

Procedural History

• [Not applicable or not found]

Parties' Submissions

• Defendant-Appellant: Argued that briefly crossing the center line does not constitute a violation justifying the traffic stop and that the officer lacked reasonable suspicion to believe the Defendant was driving while impaired.
• Plaintiff-Appellee: Maintained that the officer had reasonable suspicion to stop the Defendant based on his driving behavior, which justified investigating further for impaired driving.

Legal Issues

• Whether briefly crossing the center line constitutes a violation that justifies a traffic stop.
• Whether the officer had reasonable suspicion to stop the Defendant for investigation of impaired driving.

Disposition

• The Court of Appeals affirmed the denial of the Defendant's motion to suppress evidence obtained from the traffic stop.

Reasons

• The Court, led by Judge James J. Wechsler with Judges Michael D. Bustamante and Roderick T. Kennedy concurring, held that the officer's initial belief that the Defendant violated traffic law by crossing the center line was irrelevant if the officer had reasonable suspicion of impaired driving based on the Defendant's driving behavior. The Court found that erratic driving, such as being "all over the road," provided sufficient basis for reasonable suspicion of impairment, even in the absence of direct observations of the Defendant's physical condition such as blood-shot eyes or the smell of alcohol. This conclusion was supported by precedent that erratic driving behavior can give rise to reasonable suspicion necessary for a traffic stop to investigate potential impairment (paras 2-6).