Patrol: Checkpoint ruling won't spur policy change

By Jean Ortiz Associated Press Writer OMAHA, Neb. (AP) § The Nebraska State Patrol will not change its vehicle checkpoint policy, despite a court ruling that such an operation in Lincoln County was unconstitutional. But the patrol will review how the October checkpoint was carried out as it works to ensure officers continue to comply with the policy, spokeswoman Deb Collins said. For years, police across the nation have set up such checkpoints to catch drunk drivers and drug traffickers. Earlier this month, however, Lincoln County District Judge John Murphy ruled in a drug case that the way the patrol carried out an October checkpoint along Interstate 80 near Brady violated the U.S. Constitution. The case involved 40-year-old Alfonzo Johnson of Milwaukee, who was arrested and subsequently charged after the patrol said it found marijuana in his car. In his order, Murphy cited a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that determined random stops at checkpoints § letting some cars pass while inspecting others § are unconstitutional. "The failure to stop every vehicle, therefore, interjects the randomness which was disapproved of in (the Supreme Court ruling)," Murphy wrote. "Thus, the procedure used by the Nebraska State Patrol in this case, in not stopping every vehicle, violates the U.S. Supreme Court holding on random stops." Collins stressed that the patrol's checkpoint policy has withstood a review by the Nebraska Court of Appeals. She cited a 2004 ruling that upheld the drunken-driving conviction and sentence of a western Nebraska man who was stopped at a checkpoint in Scotts Bluff County in 2001. A spokesman for the Nebraska Attorney General's Office declined to comment on Judge Murphy's ruling and the patrol's decision regarding its policy. The policy requires stopping every vehicle, but in instances where there's heavy traffic, officers can allow those without obvious violations to drive through slowly without stopping. Capt. Jim Parish with the patrol's North Platte office, who was involved with the October checkpoint, said there were periods of heavy traffic during the 13 hours the checkpoint was held. At times, there were concerns the traffic could back up on Interstate 80, he said. More than 3,900 vehicles were inspected at the checkpoint. Troopers found more than 800 violations, largely for infractions like drivers not having proof of insurance or having expired license plates or registration, the patrol said. Murphy also ruled that the patrol didn't have probable cause to search Johnson's car using a drug-sniffing dog, and therefore couldn't use evidence found in the search. As a result of Murphy's ruling, Johnson's case and those of three others who were stopped at the checkpoint, searched and later charged with drug crimes have been or are on track to being dismissed. North Platte Attorney Patrick Hays, who represented Johnson, couldn't say whether he believed the ruling could have bigger implications for the policy and future checkpoint operations. Lincoln County Attorney Rebecca Harling said she believes the ruling is accurate and she won't appeal. While the policy has some subjective elements, she said the decision on any changes rests solely with the patrol. "I think the patrol's policy follows case law," she said. Courts have differed on the legality of checkpoints. In 1996, for example, a federal appeals court said it was reasonable for New York City police to stop motorists at random hours in the Bronx to curtail drive-by shootings, drugs and robberies. Last year, a federal appeals court said that police checkpoints in a crime-plagued Washington neighborhood were unconstitutional and ordered a lower court to reconsider its refusal to block the program. "It is apparent that appellants' constitutional rights are violated," Chief Judge David B. Sentelle of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit wrote in the ruling, citing several U.S. Supreme Court cases as precedent. Published: Mon, Feb 15, 2010

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