North Dakota v. Cook
Annotate this CaseIn early April 2019, Berthold Police Chief Allen Schmidt and Reserve Officer Greg Pinske stopped a car driven by Richard Cook for an unilluminated license plate. At the time of the stop, Pinske was not a licensed peace officer. Officer Pinske approached the car and obtained Cook’s driver’s license. Officer Pinske returned to the squad car with Cook’s license. Officer Pinske did not report to Chief Schmidt that he observed any suspicious behavior by Cook during the initial encounter. Officer Pinske ran a records check using Cook’s driver’s license, which revealed Cook had a 2016 drug conviction. At that point, Chief Schmidt took over the traffic stop. Chief Schmidt approached Cook’s vehicle and explained to Cook that he was performing drug interdiction that evening. Chief Schmidt asked Cook if he could search his car. Cook refused. Chief Schmidt then ordered Cook out of the car so he could perform a canine sniff around the car. The canine alerted to drugs in the car; Cook would ultimately be arrested and charged with several offenses. The State of North Dakota appealed after a district court granted Cook's motion suppressing evidence from the initial stop. Because the district court properly concluded Chief Schmidt’s seizure of Cook was not justified by reasonable suspicion, the Supreme Court affirmed suppression.
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