State College DUI Charges Dismissed After Unconstitutional Stop
Posted in Centre County DUI,Constitutional Rights,Fourth Amendment on August 20, 2022
A recent State College DUI case highlights the importance of protecting constitutional rights during traffic stops. When police officers conduct an unlawful stop, any evidence obtained afterward may be excluded from court, potentially resulting in the dismissal of criminal charges.
If you have been charged with DUI in Centre County, an experienced State College DUI defense attorney can evaluate whether the police violated your constitutional rights and whether evidence in your case should be suppressed.
Unconstitutional Traffic Stop Led to DUI Challenge
In this case, a police officer stopped a driver for an alleged speeding violation. The officer followed the vehicle for approximately four miles and used the patrol vehicle’s speedometer to determine that the driver was traveling 53.7 miles per hour in a 45-mile-per-hour zone.
After initiating the traffic stop, the officer detected the odor of alcohol and began a DUI investigation. The driver was subsequently arrested and later charged with Driving Under the Influence (DUI) after blood test results were obtained.
The driver retained an experienced State College criminal defense attorney to challenge the legality of the stop.
Pennsylvania Speeding Laws and Traffic Stops
Under Pennsylvania law, drivers generally cannot be convicted of speeding in a zone with a posted speed limit of less than 55 miles per hour unless they are traveling at least 10 miles per hour over the posted limit when speed is determined by certain methods, including pacing with a patrol vehicle’s speedometer.
Because the speed limit in this case was 45 miles per hour, the driver would have needed to be traveling 55 miles per hour or more to establish a speeding violation under the applicable law. Since the officer determined the driver’s speed to be 53.7 miles per hour, the defense argued that there was no probable cause to conduct the traffic stop.
Motion to Suppress DUI Evidence
The driver’s DUI lawyer in State College filed a motion to suppress evidence, arguing that the traffic stop violated the Fourth Amendment and Article I, Section 8 of the Pennsylvania Constitution because the officer lacked probable cause to believe a traffic offense had occurred.
The defense argued that because the stop was unconstitutional, all evidence obtained after the stop—including observations of impairment, field sobriety evidence, and blood test results—should be suppressed.
The prosecution contended that the officer made an honest mistake regarding Pennsylvania’s speeding laws. However, Pennsylvania courts have repeatedly rejected a broad “good faith” exception based on an officer’s misunderstanding of the law. Simply put, an officer’s mistake of law does not automatically justify an otherwise unconstitutional traffic stop.
The Centre County judge agreed with the defense, ruling that the officer lacked probable cause to stop the vehicle. As a result, the court suppressed all evidence obtained after the illegal stop, leaving the Commonwealth unable to proceed with the DUI prosecution. The DUI charges were ultimately dismissed.
Expungement of Dismissed DUI Charges
When criminal charges are dismissed in Pennsylvania, individuals may be eligible to seek an expungement of those records. An expungement removes public access to the arrest and court records associated with the dismissed case.
If your DUI charges were dismissed in Pennsylvania, a State College expungement attorney can help determine whether you qualify to have the charges removed from your record.