FORT WORTH COURT OF APPEALS REJECTS POLICE ATTEMPT TO CIRCUMVENT FOURTH AMENDMENT IN TRAFFIC STOP

 In October this year, the Second District of the Texas Court of Appeals at Fort Worth reversed a conviction in a Tarrant County DWI case on grounds having to do with the legality of the Fort Worth police stop that lead to the discovery of the evidence against the defendant. The Court of Appeals held that there were not sufficient circumstances to justify application of the “community caretaking” exception to fourth amendment protections that would otherwise make the stop illegal.

The Fort Worth police officer was conducting “preventative patrol” when he pulled up to a light next to the defendant. The passenger was sitting “hunched over” in her seat. The officer thought that she might be unconscious and thus in need of medical attention, despite her riding with the defendant. https://askcompetentlawyer.com/business-torts/ The officer was concerned, based on her posture and on the odor of alcohol, that she could have been suffering from alcohol poisoning. The officer pulled the defendant over when the defendant drove away after the light changed to green. The officer did not claim that the defendant broke any law. Under these circumstances, the “community caretaking” exception, which can allow an officer to stop a driver absent the reasonable suspicion that is normally required, would not apply. The nature of the distress was not immediate enough —there were no indications of vomit or risk of falling out of the car— and there were plenty of hospitals nearby; the person in concern was with somebody else, and there were no indications that the person, if not assisted, would be a danger to herself or others.