STATE of Tennessee v. James David MOATS

CORNELIA A. CLARK, J., and WILLIAM C. KOCH, JR., J.,

dissenting.

We respectfully dissent. We would reverse the judgment of the Court of Criminal Appeals and reinstate the judgment of the trial court, which denied the defendant’s motion to suppress because Officer Bige initially “approached [Mr. Moats’s] vehicle in her community caretaking function.” We are convinced that prior Tennessee decisions have erroneously limited the community caretaking doctrine to consensual police-citizen encounters. We believe the Court should acknowledge this error, overrule the errant precedents, and recognize…