{"id":1057,"date":"2014-04-29T20:16:06","date_gmt":"2014-04-29T20:16:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.pauljjhansen.com\/?p=1057"},"modified":"2014-05-19T19:11:19","modified_gmt":"2014-05-19T19:11:19","slug":"inquiring-police-stop-illegal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.pauljjhansen.com\/?p=1057","title":{"rendered":"Inquiring Police STOP, Illegal._"},"content":{"rendered":"

Inquiring STOP, Illegal<\/em><\/p>\n

Does a law enforcement officer, either by statute or common law, have the authority or right to stop a motorist on the highways of the state<\/span><\/strong> of Washington, who has not committed a misdemeanor in the officer’s presence and is not suspected by the officer of having committed a felony, for the sole purpose of determining whether or not the motorist has a valid operator’s license on his person<\/span><\/strong>?<\/p>\n

We answer your question in the negative.<\/p>\n

ANALYSIS<\/span><\/p>\n

The facts implicit in your question are assumed to be as follows:<\/p>\n

A motorist is operating a motor vehicle upon a public highway when he is confronted by a uniformed peace officer.\u00a0 The officer, by use of an arm signal, or some mechanical device such as a red light or siren, directs the operator to drive to the side of the highway and stop.\u00a0 After the vehicle stops, the peace officer demands to see the operator’s driver’s license.\u00a0 The purpose of this inspection is solely to determine whether the operator has a valid driver’s license on his person.<\/p>\n

[[Orig.\u00a0Op.\u00a0Page\u00a02]]<\/p>\n

Under these circumstances, there can be no doubt that such operator’s freedom of locomotion -or liberty to come or go -is restrained.\u00a0 The question remains, however, whether such restraint constitutes an arrest.<\/p>\n

4 Am.Jur., Arrest, \u00a7 2, contains the following definition:<\/p>\n

“An arrest is the taking, seizing, or detaining of the person of another, either by touching or putting hands on him, or by any act which indicates an intention to take him into custody and subjects the person arrested to the actual control and will of the person making the arrest.\u00a0.\u00a0.\u00a0.\u00a0 However, in all cases in which there is no manual touching or seizure or any resistance, the intentions of the parties to the transaction are very important; there must have been intent on the part of one of them to arrest the other, and intent on the part of such other to submit, under the belief and impression that submission was necessary.\u00a0.\u00a0.\u00a0.”<\/p>\n

“Arrest,” as the term is commonly used in the law, has been variously defined by the courts.\u00a0 Perhaps one of the most comprehensive definitions is found in Black’s Law Dictionary, 4th ed., which reads:<\/p>\n

“To deprive a person of his liberty by legal authority.\u00a0 Taking, under real or assumed authority, custody of another for the purpose of holding or detaining him to answer a criminal charge or civil demand.\u00a0 Ex parte Sherwood, 29 Tex. App. 334, 15 S.W. 812.\u00a0 Physical seizure of person by arresting officer or submission to officer’s authority and control is necessary to constitute an ‘arrest.’\u00a0 Thompson v. Boston Pub. Co., 285 Mass. 344, 189 N.E. 210, 213.\u00a0 It is a restraint, however slight, on another’s liberty to come and go.\u00a0 Turney v. Rhodes, 42 Ga. App. 104, 155 S.E. 112.\u00a0 It is the taking, seizing or detaining the person of another, touching or putting hands upon him in the execution of process, or any act indicating an intention to arrest.\u00a0 [Citing cases]”<\/p>\n

In order to constitute an arrest, it is generally recognized that four elements must be present:<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0\u00a0Intent to arrest.<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0\u00a0Under real or pretended authority.<\/p>\n

3.\u00a0\u00a0Accompanied by seizure or detention of the person.<\/p>\n

4.\u00a0\u00a0Which is so understood by the person arrested.\u00a0 6 C.J.S., Arrest \u00a7 1.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

ANSWER = NO !<\/p>\n

FROM:<\/p>\n

JOHN J. O’CONNELL\u2028Attorney General<\/p>\n

ROBERT J. HALL\u2028Assistant Attorney General<\/p>\n

Click HERE<\/a> to view the list of foundational information created by Lawyer Paul John Hansen to aid in independence from the US System.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Inquiring STOP, Illegal Does a law enforcement officer, either by statute or common law, have the authority or right to stop a motorist on the highways of the state of Washington, who has not committed a misdemeanor in the officer’s … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[125,163],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.pauljjhansen.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1057"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.pauljjhansen.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.pauljjhansen.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.pauljjhansen.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.pauljjhansen.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1057"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/www.pauljjhansen.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1057\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1076,"href":"http:\/\/www.pauljjhansen.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1057\/revisions\/1076"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.pauljjhansen.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1057"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.pauljjhansen.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1057"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.pauljjhansen.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1057"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}