The Arkansas State Police conducted an unconstitutional sobriety checkpoint when they arrested a man for drunken driving in Fort Smith in 2012, the state Supreme Court ruled Thursday.
In December, the Arkansas Court of Appeals reached a similar conclusion in the case, which was appealed to the state's highest court by the office of Attorney General Leslie Rutledge. The office argued that the appeals court ruling set broad standards for police checkpoints.
All seven Supreme Court justices agreed that police violated Jeremy Whalen's rights when they pulled him over Sept. 20, 2012. The court said officers at the checkpoint on the Exit 11 ramp of Interstate 540 were given "unfettered" discretion to establish their own procedures. The case was remanded to Sebastian County Circuit Court for an order consistent with Thursday's opinion.
The decision pleased both sides of the case.
"It's a very good decision not just for my client, but for any Arkansan that does not want to be stopped at a checkpoint that's unconstitutional," Whalen's attorney, John Collins, said.
"The Attorney General is confident that, based upon today's opinion, law enforcement will be able to conduct sobriety checkpoints and prosecutors can continue to defend those checkpoints, which are critically important to keep all Arkansans safe," spokesman Judd Deere said in an emailed statement.
According to the court filings, Whalen was driving a Dodge pickup when he was pulled over about 10:30 p.m., and state police Cpl. Dwight Lee testified in Sebastian County Circuit Court that he could smell alcohol on Whalen's breath, but the driver didn't have bloodshot eyes or otherwise appear drunk.
Whalen refused a breath test and was asked to pull over to the side of the road, where he was arrested, according to the testimony. Lee said officers followed a routine during traffic stops, but were allowed to change plans to respond to factors such as a buildup of traffic.
"As far as dealing with the individuals we come into contact with, traffic flow, location, and times, all of that is the officer in the field," Lee said, according to transcripts of the original trial.
After being found guilty, Whalen was sentenced to a day in jail, fines and court costs totaling $690. The jail sentence was suspended after the completion of driving and treatment classes.
While the circuit judge refused to rule the stop illegal, both the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals said allowing field officers broad discretion in conducting stops violated the Fourth Amendment's protections from unreasonable searches and seizures.
In her majority opinion, Supreme Court Justice Karen Baker cited a Tennessee Supreme Court opinion in State v. Hicks, which found that superior officers who are not in the field must decide when to conduct a checkpoint and establish the procedures for field officers to follow. That was not what happened in the Sebastian County case, the Arkansas court found.
"The record demonstrates that all pertinent decisions regarding the procedure used in operating the checkpoint were left to the unfettered discretion of the field officers," Baker wrote.
In a concurring opinion, Justice Rhonda Wood agreed that the checkpoint was illegal, but disagreed with her colleague's decision to cite the Tennessee Supreme Court ruling, saying the Hicks case was too strict in establishing restrictions, and was based in part on that state's constitution. Chief Justice Howard Brill joined Wood's opinion.
Metro on 10/21/2016