Summary
The North Dakota Supreme Court held that an officer lacked reasonable and articulable suspicion to stop Travis Morsette after observing him tapping an illuminated cell phone screen while driving. The court concluded the officer’s observations did not establish an objectively reasonable basis to suspect a violation of North Dakota’s cellphone-use statute and that no reasonable mistake of fact or law justified the stop. The court reversed the judgment and remanded to allow Morsette to withdraw his guilty plea and for further proceedings.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether the officer had reasonable and articulable suspicion to initiate a traffic stop based solely on observing Morsette tap an illuminated cell-phone screen approximately ten times over two seconds.
- Whether the officer’s conduct could be justified as an objectively reasonable mistake of fact or law.
- What relief was required after reversal of the denial of the suppression motion following Morsette’s conditional guilty plea.
Holdings
- Merely observing a driver tap an illuminated cell-phone screen for approximately two seconds, without additional facts linking the conduct to a prohibited use under N.D.C.C. § 39-08-23, does not create reasonable and articulable suspicion that the driver violated the statute.
- The stop cannot be justified as an objectively reasonable mistake of fact or law when the officer understood the statute but could not articulate why the observed conduct violated it.
- The judgment must be reversed and the case remanded to allow Morsette to withdraw his guilty plea and for further proceedings consistent with the opinion.
Key quotations
“Questions of law and the ultimate conclusion about whether the facts support a reasonable and articulable suspicion are fully reviewable on appeal.” (¶ 6)
“If the officer is unable to articulate why he thought Morsette’s conduct violated the statute, it is not reasonable to conclude he made a reasonable mistake of fact.” (¶ 18)
Factual background
While stopped at a red light, a law enforcement officer observed Morsette, who was driving in an adjacent lane, manipulate an illuminated touchscreen cell phone for approximately two seconds and tap the screen about ten times. The officer initiated a traffic stop based on those observations, although he could not see the content of the screen and did not testify to facts linking the tapping to a prohibited electronic message. Morsette stated that he was changing the music on his phone; the ensuing investigation led to his arrest and charges for possession of a controlled substance and drug paraphernalia.
Procedural history
The district court of Burleigh County denied Morsette’s motion to suppress, concluding the officer had reasonable and articulable suspicion to initiate an investigatory traffic stop. Morsette entered a guilty plea while reserving his suppression issue. The North Dakota Supreme Court reversed the judgment and remanded for further proceedings allowing Morsette to withdraw his guilty plea.
Remand instructions
Reverse the judgment and remand for further proceedings to allow Morsette to withdraw his guilty plea and for proceedings consistent with the opinion.