State v. Yazzie

OPINION

KENNEDY, Chief Judge.

{1} Under the United States and New Mexico Constitutions, a police officer, before executing a traffic stop, must be aware of individualized, particularized, and articulable facts that support a belief that a violation is occurring in his presence. If the only facts are that the officer runs a license plate check to ascertain whether a vehicle is insured and the computer indicates no more than that the insurance status is “unknown,” the officer possesses insufficient facts from which to form a reasonable suspicion that would support a traffic stop. The evidence the…