State v. Cortez

Meyers, Keasler, Hervey, Alcala , Richardson, Yeary and Newell, JJ, joined.

Holding that a traffic stop was illegal, the trial court granted a motion to suppress. One of the State’s arguments on appeal was that, if the police officer was mistaken about whether appellee had committed a traffic offense, the traffic stop was nevertheless legal as a reasonable mistake of law under Heien v. North Carolina.1 Citing cases from our Court that predate Heien, the court .of appeals concluded that even a reasonable mistake about the law would not justify a stop. However, the court of appeals did not…