Probable Cause and a Cloud of Dust
If a police officer sees you leaving a bar in such a hurry that you leave a cloud of dust does that give him probable cause to conduct a traffic stop for DWI? What if he sees you leaving a bar at 2:30 in the morning with a cloud of dust trailing behind you?
An Austin Court of Appeal recently had to decide if spinning the tires while leaving a bar at 2:30 in the morning created reasonable suspicion to justify a traffic stop which ultimately led to an arrest for DWI. The same court had previously ruled that spinning the tires alone did not create reasonable suspicion so the question before the court was if the time and location of the individual spinning his tires created reasonable suspicion.
The court found that pulling out of a bar parking lot quickly and late at night, even when coupled with other factors like spinning the tires, did not rise to the level sufficient to create reasonable suspicion to conduct a traffic stop for DWI. Since the police did not have probable cause for the traffic stop the defendant prevailed on his motion to suppress and the evidence was excluded from being used against him in court.