Weisberg Law Blog

Can an anonymous tip be used as the sole justification for stopping a suspected drunk drivers?

A ruling by the Virginia Supreme Court is attracting a lot of attention in the press, especially after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the case.  The Supreme Court let stand a ruling  by the Virginia Supreme Court allowing that police officers can follow, but not pull over, a suspected drunk driver unless the driver does something that makes the officer reasonably suspicious.

The case in question involved an anonymous tipster who called in to the Richmond police, describing the vehicle of a suspected drunk driver.  A police officer followed the man, but did not observe him driving in an overtly intoxicated manner.

The officer stopped the man anyway, smelled alcohol on his breath and administered field sobriety tests which the man failed.  The driver was charged with drunk driving, and upon appeal the case ended up in the Virginia Supreme Court.

The fourth amendment factored into the ruling, with the driver’s attorney arguing that stopping him based on an anonymous tip that could not be verified amounted to an unreasonable search and seizure and that the officer had no probable cause for pulling the man over.  The Virginia justices agreed.

This case could mean that future drivers pulled over solely on the basis of an anonymous tip can push back on their convictions, and it should also force Virginia police officers to be more careful about who they are pulling over and why.

Labels: Drunk driving in Virginia probable cause Virginia DUI