LORENZO PRADO NAVARETTE AND JOSE PRADO NAVARETTE, PETITIONERS v. CALIFORNIA
Supreme Court of the United States, Thomas, Filed April 22, 2014,
Car Stop- “Anonymous” 911 call that a particular vehicle ran her off of the road provided reasonable suspicion to stop that vehicle where license plate, description, and direction of travel were given and confirmed by police.
Caller (treated as anonymous in the lower courts and the USSC, though investigation revealed that she actually gave her name) reported that she had been run off the road by a specific vehicle (silver Ford F-150 pickup, license plate 8D94925) while traveling s/b on Highway 1. A trooper responding to the scene observed the vehicle traveling south of that location and made a u-turn, stopping the vehicle and noting the odor of 30 lbs of marijuana.
This case contrasts Alabama v. White (verified anonymous tip that woman would drive from a particular apartment building to a particular motel in a brown Plymouth station wagon with a broken right tail light supported second part of tip that woman would have cocaine) with Florida v. JL (bare-bones tip that a young black male in a plaid shirt standing at a bus stop was carrying a gun insufficient where tipster “did not explain how he knew about the gun, nor did he suggest that he had any special familiarity with the young man’s affairs.”)
Notes from the case on tips:
– Under appropriate circumstances, an anonymous tip can demonstrate “sufficient indicia of reliability to provide reasonable suspicion to make [an] investigatory stop.”
– Use of 911 emergency system is an indicator of veracity due to features that allow for identifying and tracing callers, and thus provide some safeguards against making false reports with immunity. Calls are also recorded, and false calls can be subject to prosecution.
– Report that victim was “run off the roadway” provided reasonable suspicion of drunk driving sufficient to stop the vehicle (suggests lane positioning problems, decreased vigilance, impaired judgment, or some combination of those recognized drunk driving cue).