Sutton v. State

Summary

The Delaware Supreme Court affirmed Kamiza Sutton’s DUI conviction and held that 21 Del. C. § 701(e) permits a municipal police officer to operate speed-enforcement equipment from within the municipality’s corporate limits even when the monitored vehicle is outside those limits. The court concluded that the statute’s plain meaning requires only that the officer operate the equipment within the town’s boundaries.

Holdings

1. Section 701(e) requires municipal police to operate speed-enforcement equipment within the municipality's corporate boundaries; it does not require the vehicle targeted by the equipment to be within those boundaries.
2. The officer acted within the limits of 21 Del. C. § 701(e) when he measured Sutton's speed and stopped her vehicle; therefore, the statute did not render the traffic stop unlawful and the denial of Sutton's motion to suppress was affirmed.

Questions Presented

1. Whether 21 Del. C. § 701(e), which prohibits a municipal police department from operating speed-enforcement equipment outside its corporate limits, prohibits an officer located within municipal boundaries from using radar to measure the speed of a vehicle located outside those boundaries.
2. Whether the traffic stop and resulting evidence were unlawful because the radar target was outside the municipality's corporate limits.

Disposition

affirmed