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AFTER A VALID TRAFFIC STOP BASED ON THE LICENSE PLATES NOT MATCHING THE VEHICLE, DEFENDANT PRESENTED HIS TEMPORARY REGISTRATION AND EXPLAINED THE PLATES HAD BEEN TRANSFERRED FROM A DIFFERENT VEHICLE; AT THAT POINT THE AUTHORIZATION TO DETAIN DEFENDANT CEASED; THE SEIZED DRUGS SHOULD HAVE BEEN SUPPRESSED (FOURTH DEPT). ​

The Fourth Department, reversing defendant possession of a controlled substance conviction and dismissing the indictment, determined the police, after making a valid traffic stop of defendant’s vehicle, did not have the authority to detain him after he presented his temporary registration and explained that the license plates had been transferred from another vehicle:

… [T]he justification for the officer’s initial detention ceased once defendant showed the officer the temporary registration that had been issued for the vehicle and explained that the license plates on the vehicle had recently been transferred from another vehicle … .. We further conclude that the record does not support the court’s determination that the circumstances following the initial stop provided the officer with probable cause to believe that defendant was violating Vehicle and Traffic Law § 507 (2) … . Indeed, the record does not support the court’s finding that, when defendant produced a learner’s permit upon being asked to produce his driver’s license, the officer asked defendant to exit the vehicle due to the lack of a valid driver’s license. Thus, inasmuch as “the initial justification for seizing and detaining defendant . . . was exhausted” at the time of defendant’s removal from the vehicle, the evidence seized during the ensuing search of defendant’s person, as well as the statements that he made to the police thereafter, should have been suppressed … .People v Betsey-Jones, 2022 NY Slip Op 01924, Fourth Dept 3-18-22

Practice Point: Here the police stopped defendant because the license plates did not match the color and make of defendant’s vehicle in the DMV database. Once the the defendant showed the officer his temporary registration and explained the license plates had been transferred from a different vehicle, the justification for the detention of the defendant ceased. Any statements made and evidence seized after that point should have been suppressed.

 

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