DUI. Does being reported by a citizen automatically give an
officer reasonable suspicion to pull you over?
I was driving to my destination. I turned on to the street
of my destination when I noticed a police cruiser tailing me. I continued to
drive at the speed limit and within my lane. I feared that I would be pulled
over before I reached my destination, but it wasn't until I reached my
destination, safely and legally parked, and turned off my car, that the officer
turned on his emergency lights. I'm not sure if that is relevant or not but I wasn't
prompted to pull over by emergency lights. I was parked at my destination when
he decided to turn on the lights. The officer told me that he got a report that
I allegedly almost hit a car and that’s why I was "pulled over". So
my question is, does simply receiving a report from a citizen constitute
reasonable suspicion to be pulled over? I don't know much about the law but
isn't that called "Hearsay"? By the time the officer began to tail
me, I committed no traffic violations. Which is why I'm assuming he didn't turn
on his emergency lights until I parked. I can't afford an attorney so I'm just
trying to figure out if I should even bother fighting this case at the risk of
a more harsh sentence. Any information helps. Thank you.
Jay’s Answer
If you stopped at your destination on your own before the
officer confronted you, then you were not technically pulled you over.
Observing you while parked or walking on a public roadway would then require
even less probable cause the pulling you over while driving, and if the officer
then next smelled alcohol, he wouldn't even need to citizen complaint to
justify checking further, and then in eventually arresting you, if impaired.
There is caselaw on law enforcement's duty to verify citizen complaints with
their own observations. While required, they needn't do much more than observe
on their own to see if at least a few of the details are true. For example,
that a car roughly matching the description of yours was on a certain route of
travel at a certain time, etc. They will also usually follow you if possible,
to try to spot bad driving on their own, again, regardless of the citizen
complaint. Either way, we are not supposed to give you legal advice on these
websites, nor do we have nearly enough detail here to do. Instead, you should
retain an experienced criminal lawyer as soon as possible for the best outcome
available to you. Be aware that many of your rights expire in as little as ten
days from when you were cited drunk driving cases, so time is of the essence.
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