Prolonged Detentions and Franks Hearings

• Prolonged Detentions
• The Mission of a Lawful Traffic Stop
• A Motion to Traverse a Search Warrant
• Evidence Sufficient to Justify a Franks Hearing

(1) Knowing that the registered owner of a vehicle has an outstanding arrest warrant is sufficient cause (absence of other evidence to the contrary) for a police officer to stop that vehicle and contact its occupants to check to see if the suspect is in the car.  Once lawfully detained in a traffic stop context, an officer may legally continue the detention of a vehicle’s driver for as long as it reasonably takes to complete the “mission” of a traffic stop.  The “mission” of a traffic stop includes checking the driver’s license (insuring that he can legally drive the car), determining whether there are outstanding warrants against the driver, and inspecting the automobile’s registration and proof of insurance.  (2) A defendant is entitled to a hearing on the truth of (or material omission in) a search warrant affidavit if he can make a “substantial preliminary showing” that the affidavit contains material falsehoods or omissions.

On March 30, 2018, Patrol Officer Jordan Chroniger of the Havre (Montana) Police Department was informed by a local drug task force that a “vehicle of interest” was presently in the parking lot of the High Land Park Zip Trip gas station.  The vehicle was described to Officer Chroniger as a red GMC pickup truck.  Officer Chroniger was also told that the vehicle was frequently driven by either defendant Shane Nault or a woman named Joei Ross; the latter being the registered owner.  He was also told that Ross had an outstanding warrant for her arrest, stemming from a failure to appear.  Upon entering the Zip Trip gas station parking lot, Officer Chroniger found the suspects’ truck with its ....