Colorado v. Mason
Annotate this CaseThe State filed an interlocutory appeal to challenge the trial court's suppression of drugs discovered in defendant's truck. Although the district court upheld the initial traffic stop, it found that defendant was illegally detained at the time of a narcotics dog sniff of his vehicle because the purpose for the initial stop had already been accomplished, and no other reasonable suspicion existed to support further investigation. The court therefore suppressed the results of the subsequent search. Upon review, the Supreme Court affirmed, holding that because the prosecution failed to present evidence supporting the police's suspicions that defendant had committed, was committing or was about to commit a crime other than a traffic offense, they lacked a reasonable, articulable suspicion to detain him for further questioning or investigation. The contraband seized from his vehicle was therefore properly suppressed as the product of an illegal detention.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.