Dickerson v. Commonwealth

In this appeal we again consider whether, following the conclusion of a valid stop for a traffic violation, the continued encounter between a police officer and the driver of the vehicle was consensual or an illegal seizure in violation of the driver’s Fourth Amendment rights.

On August 20, 1999, Pittsylvania Sheriff’s Deputy B.K. Parker received a radio dispatch giving him the license plate number and description of a motor vehicle traveling westbound on Route 58. The vehicle, driven by Vincent Dickerson, had failed to yield the right of way to a Danville Life Saving Crew truck. Soon…