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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe Indiana Supreme Court says evidence of drug and weapon possession found during a 2024 traffic stop should be suppressed after an officer improperly pulled over a motorist for failing to signal when leaving a gas station.
The court noted in a Nov. 10 opinion that driver Parnell D. Lanier did not have to signal when he turned right out of private property onto a road before the May 2024 traffic stop. The justices cited Indiana Code section 9-21-8-24.
The Supreme Court reversed a Marion Superior Court decision to deny Lanier’s motion to suppress the evidence and remanded the case.
The high court noted that under the code, motorists have to use their signal when already on a highway or when changing lanes.
“Neither requires a motorist to signal when turning right out of a private commercial parking lot onto a city street,” the Supreme Court stated in the opinion.
During the May 2024 stop, triggered by the lack of a signal, the officer found a holstered handgun in Lanier’s lap. Marijuana was later found in the vehicle along with a digital scale, according to the opinion.
During his booking, officers discovered what they suspected to be cocaine in one of Lanier’s socks. He was charged with Level 5 felony unlawful carrying of a handgun, Level 5 felony possession of cocaine and Class A misdemeanor possession of marijuana.
Before trial, Lanier moved to suppress the evidence, saying he did not violate the law when he failed to signal. He also said the traffic stop violated his Fourth Amendment rights protecting him from unreasonable government searches and seizures.
The trial court denied Lanier’s motion. The Indiana Court of Appeals affirmed that decision, noting that the officer’s interpretation of the law was “objectively reasonable,” and the stop complied with the Fourth Amendment, according to the Nov. 10 opinion.
The state Supreme Court then granted Lanier’s petition to transfer. That vacated the appellate court’s opinion.
The Supreme Court said the search violated Lanier’s rights and ordered the evidence to be suppressed under the exclusionary rule, which bars evidence obtained through a Fourth Amendment violation.
Chief Justice Loretta Rush wrote the opinion. Justices Mark Massa, Christopher Goff and Derek Molter concurred. The opinion said Justice Geoffrey Slaughter dissented, believing that the case transfer should have been denied and the appellate court’s opinion reinstated.
The case is Parnell D Lanier v. State of Indiana, 26S-CR-405.
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