State v. Starkey Shows Officers Must Have Cause For Stop in Fullerton DUI
You're driving around lost or maybe your evasiveness is on purpose because you see a police cruiser behind you. In most situations, as long as you follow the traffic rules, you should be fine.
But the recent case of South Dakota v. Shanna C. Starkey, shows that some courts think otherwise in Fullerton DUI cases.

This topic is especially important as during the winter break, nearly 1,000 people were arrested for DUI throughout California -- that number only includes California Highway Patrol officers -- as law enforcement officers increased patrols and sought to increase DUI arrests. Our Fullerton DUI defense lawyers recognize that being charged with a DUI is a life-changing situation and one that can seriously harm a person's future.
In Starkey's case, last July she was parked at a bar around 2 a.m. She backed out of a parking space, according to court records, and pulled into the left lane of a three-lane street. She stopped about four car lengths short of a police cruiser ahead of her, though there was no traffic between the patrol car or any reason to stay behind, the officer stated.
As the light turned green, the officer went straight, while the female driver turned left. The officer decided to follow her. After going through the intersection, the officer made two lefts to backtrack and attempt to locate the female driver. He saw her sitting at a red light a few streets over.
The woman made a left, turned into a church parking lot, into an alley, down several more streets and eventually she ended up back at the bar where she originally started. The officer pulled her over and said, "Looks like you're doing a lot of work trying to avoid me." He suspected she was guilty of DUI and arrested her.
Her DUI defense lawyer attempted to suppress the evidence gathered because the officer had no reason to pull the vehicle over in the first place. There was no swerving, no running a red light, speeding or other traffic infraction that gave the officer a reason to make the initial stop. And her judge agreed, granting the motion to suppress and kicking out any evidence collected after the stop.
The state appealed and the South Dakota Supreme Court made a shocking ruling that because there was "reasonable suspicion that criminal activity was afoot," the officer had reasonable suspicion to justify the stop.
Our Fullerton DUI defense lawyers hope there is an avenue for appeal beyond the current ruling because that would allow officers to have the power to pull over anyone any time they believe there is a "suspicion that criminal activity was afoot," regardless of any actual proof. This could lead to profiling, which is something that doesn't belong in police work. Let's hope this decision is struck down or not used as a basis for future cases.
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