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7th District: Officer erred by stopping driver on a ‘hunch’
TRACEY BLAIR
Legal News Reporter
Published: August 30, 2021
A Carroll County trial court erred by denying a motion to suppress in a drug trafficking case, according to the 7th District Court of Appeals.
Malik Riechers appealed from a judgment overruling his motion to suppress evidence found during a traffic stop.
On May 29, 2020, around 12:40 a.m., Carrollton Police Officer Lionel Woods was on patrol and noticed a Toyota RAV-4 drive past him that appeared to not have a rear license plate. Woods pulled out behind the vehicle and began to follow it. He then realized that the vehicle did in fact have a rear license plate from Virginia. The officer learned through dispatch that it was a rental car.
The officer learned from dispatch the vehicle was associated with a Raymond Guthrie, who did not have a valid driver’s license. Based on this information, the officer stopped the vehicle, which contained a large amount of drugs.
Guthrie was not in the car with Riechers and a co-defendant.
Riechers was indicted on one count each of trafficking in a fentanyl-related compound, possession of a fentanyl-related compound, possession of heroin, possession of criminal tools, and one count of possession of drugs.
He initially entered a not guilty plea and alleged there was no reasonable suspicion for the traffic stop.
The trial court held a hearing on the motion to suppress where it heard testimony from Woods, who testified the only reason he initiated the traffic stop was because dispatch informed him the vehicle was associated with an invalid driver.
The defendant later changed his plea to no contest to the charges. He was found guilty on all counts except for possession of heroin. He was sentenced to 11 to 16.5 years in prison.
On appeal, Riechers argued Woods did not have reasonable articulable suspicion to stop the vehicle.
“Appellant points out that Officer Woods stated that he stopped the vehicle on a ‘hunch’ that a driver ‘associated’ with the vehicle might be unlicensed,” 7th District Judge Gene Donofrio wrote in his opinion. “Appellant argues an officer must have more than a mere hunch to effectuate a traffic stop. He points out that the vehicle was not speeding and posed no threat to anyone around it. Moreover, appellant asserts that Officer Woods could have inquired about the associated driver and learned that he lived in California and had not had a traffic violation in approximately 10 years. And he notes that it is common knowledge that rental car companies do not rent vehicles to individuals who do not possess valid driver’s licenses.”
Judge Donofrio noted a police officer may run any license plate it chooses.
“What is significant in this case however, is what information Officer Woods did not possess,” he wrote. “The officer had no information as to who was actually driving the vehicle or what the status was of the current operator’s driver’s license. Without this information, Officer Woods had no reasonable suspicion to effectuate a traffic stop. The officer testified that he did not observe any traffic violations. And he agreed that he stopped the vehicle on a ‘hunch’ that Raymond Guthrie might be inside.
“In this case, the officer had no information that the person driving the vehicle had an invalid driver’s license. The officer knew the vehicle was a rental. Thus, even if an unlicensed driver named Raymond Guthrie at some point was associated with that rental vehicle, Officer Woods had no information that Guthrie was driving the vehicle on the night in question. Moreover, in order to rent a car, a driver has to provide the rental company with a valid driver’s license. Taking all of these facts and circumstances into consideration, Officer Woods did not have reasonable suspicion to effectuate a traffic stop in this case.”
Appellate Judge David D’Apolito concurred the trial court erred by not granting the motion to dismiss.
However, Seventh District Judge Carol Ann Robb dissented, holding the officer had a reasonable articulable suspicion to make the stop.
“The officer received information the vehicle was associated with a driver without a valid license,” Judge Robb wrote in her dissenting opinion. “The officer did not need to know who was driving the vehicle to effectuate the stop. Knowing the vehicle was a rental associated with a driver without a valid license was the reasonable articulable suspicion to stop the vehicle.
“As the majority points out, in order to rent a car, the driver must provide the rental company with a valid driver’s license. That fact, in my opinion, does not negate reasonable articulable suspicion, but rather adds to it especially when the officer explained that typically rental car information does not come back with information on an associated driver. Thus, when considered together it raises reasonable suspicion.”
The panel remanded the case, State v. Riechers, 2021-Ohio-2527, to the trial court.