Archer v. Commonwealth – July 21, 2009
Posted by ron on July 23, 2009 · Leave a Comment
Archer contends the trial court erred in denying his pre-trial motion to suppress, arguing the officer did not have reasonable suspicion to stop him.
A police officer ran the license tags of the car driven by Archer. The DMV database returned that the registered owner of the car had a suspended driver’s license, and also returned the physical description of the registered owner. The officer “observed [Archer] from only a few feet away,” and determined he matched the physical description of the registered owner. The CAV concluded the officer had reasonable suspicion to stop Archer for driving on a suspended license.
From
The Court of Appeals of Virginia (one-judge order)
Counsel
Wallace W. Brittle, Jr. (Riddick Babineau, PC) for appellant.
C. Phillip Ferguson and Susan Walton (Office of the Commonwealth’s Attorney) for appellee.
Assignments of Error
1. The Court of Appeals erred when it affirmed the trial court’s denial of Archer’s Motion to Suppress, because the police officer did not have a reasonable, articulable suspicion for stopping the vehicle Archer was driving the night of the alleged offense.
Date Granted
7-16-2009