State v. Moats

Defendant appeals from convictions for drug-related offenses based on evidence that officers discovered when they searched the parked vehicle that defendant had been driving after having questioned defendant and another person present in the vehicle. Defendant argues that the police officers’ questioning that led to the discovery of that evidence was the result of an illegal stop and, for that reason, the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress. We are therefore called on to determine when the interaction between the arresting officers and defendant became a constitutionally…