State v. Kimmons

Pursuant to Rodgers/Kirkeby, “a stop is unlawfully extended, effectuating an unconstitutional seizure, where 'an officer, without letting the person know expressly or by implication that he or she is free to leave, detains the person beyond the time reasonably required to investigate the initial basis for the stop and to issue a citation, without the requisite reasonable suspicion.'”

Defendant appealed conviction of unlawful possession of a firearm and possession of a loaded firearm in public, contending that the trial court erred in denying her motion to suppress. Defendant argued that when police stopped her for possible criminal trespass by parking in a parking garage without paying, they then impermissibly extended the stop in their search for weapons without reasonable suspicion that Defendant had committed the crime of illegal weapons possession. The State argued that Defendant mistook law pertaining to non-criminal traffic stops and applied it to criminal stops. The Court rejected that reasoning, stating that Rodgers/Kirkeby and its progeny apply across all stops because it was a constitutional matter decided by the Supreme Court. The Court determined that the police extended the stop when they did not proceed with matters pertaining to their reasoning for initiating the stop, namely the criminal trespass and driving uninsured, and the evidence then gathered was not obtained from a legal search. Reversed and remanded.