U.S. v. Uribe

Federal 7th Circuit Court
Criminal Court
Search and Seizure
Citation
Case Number: 
No. 11-3590
Decision Date: 
February 13, 2013
Federal District: 
S.D. Ind., Terre Haute Div.
Holding: 
Affirmed
In prosecution on drug charge, Dist. Ct. did not err in granting defendant’s motion to suppress drugs seized from his vehicle after defendant was stopped when officer observed that there was color discrepancy between defendant's vehicle and color noted on vehicle registration. Driving car of one color that did not match color noted on car’s registration did not give rise to reasonable suspicion that defendant was engaged in criminal activity where color discrepancy itself was not unlawful under relevant state law, and where relevant state law did not require that defendant update car’s color on its registration. Moreover, govt. failed to provide any evidence to support its claim that instant stop was justified by suspicion that defendant was driving stolen vehicle.