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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jul 2013
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    Question Stopped for Driving on a Suspended License, but Permitted to Drive Under Restrictions

    My question involves criminal law for the state of: Pennsylvania.

    I was pulled over by a state trooper for having a suspended license. However my license is NOT suspended; I have a probationary license, which means I can drive anywhere for any reason between the hours of 6:00 am to 7:00 pm. I was pulled over within those hours. There is an automated system to call to check the status of a drivers license, and every time I call, the status of my license is "suspended". I called the DMV about this and was told that although I have probationary license, it will come up as suspended, and that I will need to, at all times, have the paper in my vehicle that states which vehicles and hours I can drive. OK. So back to the incident.

    A state trooper was behind me for several miles, she went to pass, then slows down to get behind me and pulls me over. She approaches and asked for my license and registration, and tells me that I'm being stopped because my license came up as suspended when my plate was ran. She then tells me she smells alcohol. I told her how I was drinking the night before (I was, heavily). I gave her my license and papers and she goes to the cruiser for about 5 minutes. She comes back and asks me to step out of the vehicle, where she then proceeds to conduct a field sobriety test. I did well except the part where you have to stand on one foot for 30 seconds; I only maintained that for about 6 seconds. I did not fall, but I had to put my other foot down. After this she has be blow into a breathalyzer which, I apparently was not blowing into hard enough, even though I thought I was. So she has me immediately blow again -- not waiting the required 15 minutes between tests (although, I don't know if the first attempt to blow would constitute a test, being that it never completed). I blew a .14 something, which was shocking to me because I really didn't feel too intoxicated. I was taken to the hospital and given a blood test. Still awaiting charges in the mail.

    I'm wondering if the officer's belief (though erroneous) that my license was suspended would constitute probable cause. I recently read some police forums, and found out that, in PA, cops can pull your entire history, but it takes more time than the usual check they do when running plates. So this makes me think that the officer may have prematurely pulled me over (negligence).

  2. #2

    Default Re: Probable Cause

    Quote Quoting Acquittal
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    I'm wondering if the officer's belief (though erroneous) that my license was suspended would constitute probable cause.
    Absolutely. Officers get to rely on information given to them from other official sources, even if those sources are wrong, or if you don't have the paperwork you're required to have which would shed additional light on the information given to the officer from those sources.


    I recently read some police forums, and found out that, in PA, cops can pull your entire history, but it takes more time than the usual check they do when running plates.
    Your history would have been irrelevant to the stop. It takes about .9 seconds to get back a HSMV response showing the owner's information, and about another .9 seconds to get the registered owners information if on an automated system, and about 4 seconds if the dispatcher or officer had to type in your name and date of birth manually. So in less than 8 seconds, the officer would have had all the information needed to establish probable cause for the stop. If they wanted to pull your history, even that would only take another 4 to 20 seconds, depending again on whether or not the inquiry was made via an automated system, or if the officer or dispatcher had to again type in the name, date of birth, etc.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jul 2013
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    27

    Default Re: Probable Cause

    Quote Quoting aardvarc
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    Your history would have been irrelevant to the stop.

    By "history", I mean that she would have seen that my license is in fact not suspended. And even in the car, seeing my face on the laptop, she was still insisting that my license is suspended. Seems like the way the DMV has this probationary license set up would pretty much guarantee a stop by police. Been driving with it for over a year and never got stopped. I'm wondering if she lied to me about the license coming up as suspended OR, she misinterpreted the information presented to her on the computer.

  4. #4
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    Default Re: Probable Cause

    You can discuss what records were available to the officer, and what they showed, when you discuss your case with your criminal defense lawyer. If the officer states that the only reason for the stop was that your driver's license showed up as suspended, and if the records the officer was looking at did not in fact indicate that you were committing the offense of DWLS, your lawyer would likely bring a motion to have the traffic stop ruled improper and ask that the subsequently discovered evidence of intoxication be suppressed.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jul 2013
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    Default Re: Probable Cause

    Quote Quoting Mr. Knowitall
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    You can discuss what records were available to the officer, and what they showed, when you discuss your case with your criminal defense lawyer. If the officer states that the only reason for the stop was that your driver's license showed up as suspended, and if the records the officer was looking at did not in fact indicate that you were committing the offense of DWLS, your lawyer would likely bring a motion to have the traffic stop ruled improper and ask that the subsequently discovered evidence of intoxication be suppressed.
    Yeah, I'll have to wait and see. A somewhat digressive thought: if the records the cop have do only show a suspension, when there is no suspension, would that not be entrapment by the state? It's almost ensuring a traffic stop.

  6. #6

    Default Re: Probable Cause

    Quote Quoting Acquittal
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    if the records the cop have do only show a suspension, when there is no suspension, would that not be entrapment by the state? It's almost ensuring a traffic stop.
    No, it's not entrapment, it's exactly why they specifically told you:

    I will need to, at all times, have the paper in my vehicle that states which vehicles and hours I can drive

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