Tenth Circuit US v. McGehee 10-3068

   In this case, McGehee was a passenger in a car that was illegally parked (facing the wrong direction) in front of a house from which the police had made several arrests for drug offenses.  An officer driving past saw that the car was facing the wrong way, and turned around to make a traffic stop.  The driver turned his car around and parked legally, but the officer stopped the car anyway.  While talking to the driver, the officer noticed the smell of PCP from inside the car.  The officer also noticed drug paraphernalia.  Both occupants of the car were removed, more drugs were found, and while being removed from the car McGehee tried to push a gun underneath the seat of the car with his foot.  A search of McGehee's person revealed about $150 and small baggies of crack.

   McGehee moved to supress the evidence, arguing that the stop was illegal because the traffic infraction had already been corrected.  He also argued his detention had exceeded the scope of the circumstances which gave rise to it.

   Obviously, the court had none of it.  Officers have the authority to make a stop when a violation has occurred or is occurring, and no court has ever held that correcting a violation before the stop invalidates this authority. Also, previous cases have held that if officers become aware of additional circumstances during a stop which create reasonable suspicion of further criminal activity, then we may expand the scope of the stop to address the newly developed information.  McGehee appealed the district court's denial of his motion to suppress, and the 10th Circuit affirmed the judgment of the lower court.  Pretty obvious case, really.