State of Minnesota District Court, Tenth Judicial District

Criminal Division
County of Washington Case No. 64-CR-07-80176
Case Type: Misdemeanor DWI
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STATE OF MINNESOTA
Plaintiff,
v. Defendant’s Notice of Motion,
Motion to Suppress Evidence and
Motion to Dismiss
BILL PETERSON
Defendant.
_________________________________________________________________________

NOTICE OF MOTION

TO: The State of Minnesota and Doug Johnson, Washington County Attorney,
Washington County Law Enforcement Center, 15015 62nd Street North Stillwater,
MN 55082

PLEASE TAKE NOTICE THAT on JUNE 10 at 11:00 a.m. before Al Franken,

Judge of the District Court, in Room 707, located at 15 West Kellogg Blvd in the City

Hall / Courthouse in the City of St. Paul, State of Minnesota,

The Defendant will move the Court for an order to suppress evidence and dismiss

the case against him:

MOTIONS

1. Defendant, by undersigned counsel, requests the Court to grant a Motion to Suppress

Evidence.

2. Defendant requests the Court to grant a Motion to Dismiss.

3. Defendant requests the Court to grant these motions because the arresting officer did

not have probable cause to stop the defendant for a traffic violation.

4. I am attaching the following documents or affidavits, if any, that support my request

(attached hereto as Exhibit A):

Verification and Acknowledgements:

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a. I have read this document. To the best of my knowledge, information and belief the
information contained in this document is well grounded in fact and is warranted by
existing law.
b. I have not been determined by any court in Minnesota or in any other State to be a
frivolous litigant or subject to an Order precluding me from serving and filing this
document.
c. I am not serving or filing this document for any improper purpose, such as to harass
the other party or to cause delay or needless increase in the cost of litigation or to
commit a fraud on the court.
d. I understand that if I am not telling the truth or if I am misleading the court or if I
am serving or filing this document for any improper purpose, the court can order me
to pay money to the other party, including the reasonable expenses incurred by the
other party because of the serving or filing of this document such as court costs, and
reasonable attorney fees.

Dated this 5th day of June 2010

_________________________
Jean Gray
Attorney ID# 01234
Law Office of Jean Gray, LCC.
1234 Snelling Avenue North
Roseville, MN 55113
(651) 555-0000
Attorney for Defendant

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STATE OF MINNESOTA
Plaintiff,
v.

BILL PETERSON
Defendant.
_________________________________________________________________________

MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF DEFENDANT'S MOTION TO SUPPRESS

AND DISMISS

INTRODUCTION

Defendant, Bill Peterson, moves this Court to suppress the PBT test evidence, the

field sobriety tests testimony and all inflammatory statements made by Mr. Peterson

based on a lack of probable cause for a traffic stop on the authority of the Fourth

Amendment to the Constitution of the United States and pursuant to Rules 10.01, 10.04

and 11.03 of the Minnesota Rules of Criminal Procedure.

FACTS

Roseville Police Officer, Tom Harris, stopped the Defendant because he delayed

turning for approximately eight seconds when the green left turn arrow appeared on the

traffic light. During this illegal traffic stop, the officer asked the defendant to produce his

driver’s license and insurance card. Officer Harris claimed that he smelled alcohol on the

Defendant’s breath and asked him if he was drinking that night. The Defendant

responded that he had consumed two beers at a friend’s home hours earlier. Officer

Harris asked Peterson to step out of the vehicle and administered a handheld PBT test

that showed an alcohol concentration of 0.09%. The officer then administered three

formal field sobriety tests and determined that Peterson was intoxicated.

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 ARGUMENT

According to the judicial opinion of State v. Hjelmstad, 535 N.W. 2d 663 (Minn.

Ct. App. 1995), the court held that the conviction of a gross misdemeanor, driving under

the influence, should be vacated because it was the product of an illegal stop. The court

agreed and reversed the conviction.

There are currently no traffic laws that consider a four-second hesitation at a

green traffic light a violation of local and state traffic law. Therefore, the Defendant’s

pause at the light does not warrant enough of the probable cause elements such as not

coming to a complete stop to pull a driver over for a traffic violation. It has been long

established and held that in accordance with the Fourth Amendment of the United States

Constitution a police officer may not stop a vehicle without a reasonable basis for doing

so.

CONCLUSION

Based upon the foregoing, Defendant respectfully moves the Court to suppress the

PBT test, field sobriety testimony, and inflammatory statements made by the defendant

and that the indictment for Misdemeanor DWI be dismissed.

Dated this 5th day of June 2010

___________________________
Jean Gray
Attorney ID# 01234
Law Office of Jean Gray, LCC.
1234 Snelling Avenue North
Roseville, MN 55113
(651) 555-0000
Attorney for Defendant

MAILING CERTIFICATE

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I hereby certify that a true and correct copy of the foregoing document was mailed by
First Class U.S. Mail, postage prepaid, this 5th day of June 2010, to the following:

Doug Johnson
Washington County Attorney
Washington County Law Enforcement Center
15015 62nd Street North Stillwater, MN 55082

__________________________
Sandra Black
Legal Assistant

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EXHIBIT A