A police officer may extend a lawfully initiated traffic stop to investigate the status of a driver’s license even after the reason for initiating the stop is dispelled, the Supreme Court of Ohio ruled.
A Supreme Court majority upheld the conviction of Quentin Fips, whom officers stopped in December 2018 after observing him driving with only one functioning headlight. After initiating the stop and obtaining Fips’s information, the officers discovered that they might have been mistaken about his headlight. The traffic stop nevertheless continued, and the officers discovered that Fips was driving without a valid license and that he had an outstanding warrant. Acting on this information, the officers arrested Fips. A subsequent search of his car revealed crack cocaine and a digital scale.
Fips was charged with two drug-related crimes. He asked the Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court to suppress the evidence, arguing that once police learned his headlights were working, they had no right to prolong the stop to inquire about his license. The court rejected the argument and denied Fips’s motion to suppress the evidence. Fips pleaded no contest to the charges and was sentenced to five years in prison.
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