San Francisco DUI Attorney Case Law Updates On Reasonable Suspicion

 Posted on June 05, 2012 in DUI

State of Kansas v. Peach , Slip Copy, 2011 WL 4440184 (Table) (Kan.App.)

The driver passed a police cruiser parked on the side of the road which may have had its headlights on or just the parking lights. When the driver did not dim his brights as he passed, the officer made a u-turn and detained him.

The detention was held unconstitutional because the subject statute only requires the dimming of bright lights when a motorist is approaching “an oncoming vehicle within 500 feet..." Since the police cruiser was parked on the side of the road it was stationary and not oncoming.

The Court also rejected a prosecutorial claim of “good faith," holding that a mistake of law cannot be the basis for the “good faith" exception to the warrant requirement.