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Can I be pulled over without probable cause in Minnesota?
Anonymous4 views3 answers
I was pulled over after a few blocks by a police officer who drove behind me. I had no moving violations or issues with the state or function of my car or plates. Upon arrival at my car window, the cop asked if I was the owner of the vehicle to which I replied yes. He then told me that my license had been suspended, but offered no real reason as to why he pulled me over. He cited me then said I had to park my car, he wouldn't even allow me to drive my car home because I could get in a car accident within the mile to my home. I don't see what a license has to do with an insurance claim anyway. This just seems to be a bit of an illegal action as they never did state why he needed to run my plates and pull me over.
The other contributors are right. It is a legal stop. The standard for initiating a traffic stop is "reasonable suspicion of criminal activity." It is not "probable cause." The standard is low. Cops can scan plates without any justification. If the registered owner's status is suspended, a traffic stop may be initiated unless it appears that the driver does not match the description of the registered owner.
Even if it's a legal stop, you still may be able to keep this incident off of your driving record. A conviction for driving after suspension, whether it's a petty misdemeanor or misdemeanor, will result in the suspension of driving privileges for at least 30 days. Typically, prosecutors will deal more leniently with you if your driving status is "valid" at the time you go to court for the driving after suspension charge. Thus, your best best is to restore your privileges now and go to court to fight it going on your driving record.
Another attorney can answer the legal technicalities better than I am able to do; however, my advice is that a challenge to this violation will be a lot time/effort/money for a very small chance of success. If you were actually driving with a suspended license, most judges won't get into any injustice of being pulled over without probable cause. Further, when pressed, expect the cop to come up with any reason to have pulled you over. It's very easy for the officer to say that you were going one mile per hour over the speed limit, which would entitled him to pull you over.
It's called a Pike stop. The cop can run your plate for any reason/no reason. If he runs the plates and the registered owner has a suspended license and it might be the suspended driver behind the wheel- that's enough for a stop. Judges are very forgiving when it comes to this and you would need a scenario almost along the lines of Mike Tyson confused for Betty White to get the stop thrown out.
Also, the cop didn't let you drive the mile home because you had a suspended license- driving even a mile on a suspended license is still driving on a suspended license.
