The People v. Rebecca Guthrie

The courts of this state have consistently held that a police officer’s mistake of law cannot provide the requisite probable cause for a valid search and seizure. It is also well-established that evidence obtained as a result of a seizure lacking probable cause must be suppressed. Given this legal landscape, I disagree with the majority’s conclusion that under our State Constitution an officer’s erroneous belief that *141a driver violated the law may provide probable cause for a vehicular stop, and, regardless of the driver’s innocence, a court may admit evidence obtained as a consequence of the…