State v. Chelsea Strom

Summary

The Montana Supreme Court considered whether police seized Chelsea Strom when an officer approached a parked van, requested identification, and took the occupants' identification cards to check their status and warrants. Applying the reasonable-person/free-to-leave standard, the Court held that a seizure occurred and that the officer lacked particularized suspicion to justify the stop. The Court reversed the denial of Strom's motion to suppress and remanded for further proceedings.

Holdings

1. A seizure occurred because, under the totality of the circumstances, a reasonable person would not have believed she was free to leave when the officer demanded identification, instructed the occupants to wait, and removed their identification cards for a warrant and license check.
2. The officer lacked particularized suspicion to seize and investigate Strom because the information available to him did not provide objective data and articulable facts supporting a reasonable inference that she had committed, was committing, or was about to commit an offense.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the sergeant's request for identification and instruction that the occupants wait constituted a seizure under the Fourth Amendment and Article II, Section 11 of the Montana Constitution.
2. Whether the sergeant had particularized suspicion to justify the seizure and resulting investigation of Strom.

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded