March 2025 | Legal Case Updates | Fourth Amendment

FOURTH AMENDMENT: INABILITY TO READ TEMPORARY VEHICLE REGISTRATION TAG DOES NOT ON ITS OWN AMOUNT TO REASONABLE ARTICULABLE SUSPICION FOR STOP

Appellant was driving a van without a rear license plate but with a valid temporary registration tag from Wisconsin in the lower left corner of the rear window. A police officer saw the van at a gas station and followed it to check its registration. The officer saw the paper in the rear window but could not read it. The officer turned on his squad lights, but Appellant continued driving for four to five miles, making multiple turns and refusing commands to stop. Appellant eventually stopped after the van was surrounded by several squad cars. Appellant was convicted of felony fleeing after a jury trial.

The Court of Appeals finds the district court erred in finding the police had reasonable, articulable suspicion to initiate the stop of Appellant’s vehicle to determine whether the van had a valid temporary registration tag. The officer suspected the paper in the window was a temporary rag and did not observe any traffic violations or unsafe driving prior to activating his squad lights. The seizure was based on a “whim” and “idle curiosity” as to whether the tags were valid. This is insufficient for an investigatory stop.

However, while the seizure was unlawful, the court also finds that evidence of Appellant’s subsequent conduct in fleeing was admissible. Appellant’s commission of a new crime – fleeing – was an intervening circumstance that “purged [Appellant’s] subsequent conduct from the taint of the unlawful seizure.” The State did not seek to exploit the officer’s illegal conduct by seizing incriminating evidence already in existence and police did not provoke Appellant to commit a new crime. The State also presented sufficient evidence to sustain Appellant’s fleeing conviction. His conviction is affirmed. State v. Engel, A24-0271, 2025 WL 665012 (Minn. Ct. App. Mar. 3, 2025).