State v. Schneider

Summary

The North Dakota Supreme Court affirmed the denial of Robert Schneider’s motion to suppress evidence after his conditional guilty plea to possession of marijuana by a driver and possession of drug paraphernalia. The Court held that a deputy’s approach to Schneider’s already parked vehicle, including the use of flashing lights, did not constitute a seizure under the Fourth Amendment because Schneider failed to establish that a reasonable person would have believed he was not free to leave. A dissenting justice would have concluded that the flashing lights constituted a seizure unsupported by reasonable suspicion.

Holdings

1. The deputy's approach did not constitute a Fourth Amendment seizure. The encounter was a community-caretaking or consensual public encounter because Schneider was already stopped, the deputy did not block the available routes, did not order Schneider to do anything, did not demand a response, and did not otherwise restrain Schneider's liberty.
2. Schneider failed to establish a prima facie case that an illegal seizure occurred, so suppression was properly denied.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the deputy's approach to Schneider's already parked vehicle, including the use of flashing lights, constituted a seizure under the Fourth Amendment or article I, section 8 of the North Dakota Constitution.
2. Whether Schneider established a prima facie case of an illegal seizure requiring suppression of the evidence obtained through the ensuing consensual searches.

Disposition

affirmed