Pubdate: Sat, 21 Jul 2001
Source: Yankton Daily Press & Dakotan (SD)
Copyright: 2000 Yankton Daily Press & Dakotan
Contact:  http://www.yankton.net
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1046
Author: Chet Brokaw

COURT: BATHROOM ARREST CONSTITUTIONAL

PIERRE -- When a woman passenger walked away after a car was stopped for 
speeding, a policeman had the right to pursue her into a restroom and then 
arrest and search her, the state Supreme Court ruled Thursday.

The high court's 4-1 ruling said an illegal drug found in Christina Hodges' 
purse can be used as evidence against her.

But the dissenting justice said the majority opinion essentially wipes out 
the constitutional protection against unreasonable search and seizure.

''No longer can an ordinary citizen avoid contact with law enforcement as 
he or she wishes,'' Justice Robert A. Amundson wrote in his dissent.

After police officer Jason Nelson stopped a car for speeding in North Sioux 
City on Feb. 16, 2000, the driver pulled into a casino parking lot. Hodges, 
the passenger, got out and started walking toward the casino entrance, even 
though the officer told her to stop four times.

The officer followed Hodges into the casino. When he knocked on the 
bathroom door and got no response, he followed her inside. Hodges, who had 
her pants pulled partially down, turned away and refused to show her hands.

Nelson thought she was trying to conceal evidence, entered the stall and 
ordered her to pull up her pants. When she did not respond, the officer 
pulled up her pants, arrested her for obstructing a law officer and said he 
found traces of cocaine in a container in her purse.

Hodges was charged with obstruction of a law officer, possession of a 
controlled substance and being a habitual offender.

Circuit Judge Lori Wilbur later ruled the alleged drug found in Hodges' 
purse could not be used as evidence because it was obtained in an 
unconstitutional search and seizure. The case was suspended while the state 
appealed to the Supreme Court.

The circuit judge ruled that the officer had no justifiable reason to stop 
Hodges. The judge said everyone has the right to oppose an illegal arrest 
and can flee to do. Mere flight does not give an officer probable cause for 
an arrest, the judge said.

The Supreme Court said police cannot detain people even momentarily without 
a good reason to do so. People normally can choose not to talk to police 
and just walk away, the justices said.

But the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that police can control the situation 
when making a traffic stop, and that would include preventing a passenger 
from walking away, the state court said.

The nation's highest court also has ruled that an unprovoked flight can 
provide an officer with reasonable suspicion for further investigation, the 
South Dakota justices said.

The officer was entitled to make Hodges remain at the vehicle after the 
traffic stop, and her flight gave him a reason to pursue her, the Supreme 
Court said. Her suspicious behavior inside the bathroom gave the officer 
the right to legally arrest her, the justices said.

''Things might have been different if Hodges had explained that she 
urgently needed to use the restroom. Her failure to provide a reasonable 
explanation for hurrying away was inexcusable,'' Justice Richard Sabers 
wrote for the court majority.

Because the officer had probable cause to arrest Hodges for obstructing a 
law officer, the evidence found in her purse is admissible as evidence 
against her, the court said.

But in his dissent, Amundson said the majority misinterpreted a U.S. 
Supreme Court opinion that allowed an officer to take control of a 
passenger who acted suspiciously. Hodges was not acting suspiciously in 
this case, and her actions did not threaten the officer's safety, he said.
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