Turn Signal Saves Driver From Marijuana Charge
By: Michael C. Fehn
Updated: October 25, 2012
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- The Indiana Court of Appeals says a Kokomo police officer didn't have grounds to pull over a driver just because he had left his turn signal on, and it has reversed the man's conviction related to marijuana that police seized during the traffic stop.
The three-judge panel says the drug seizure violated the Fourth Amendment because the traffic stop was unwarranted, and the evidence was inadmissible.
The decision concerns a May 2011 arrest in which a police officer stopped a car after it continued through an intersection without turning despite having its turn signal activated.
The judges concluded in the Oct. 19 ruling that there was nothing in Indiana law that makes it illegal to drive through an intersection with an activated turn signal without turning or changing lanes.
The three-judge panel says the drug seizure violated the Fourth Amendment because the traffic stop was unwarranted, and the evidence was inadmissible.
The decision concerns a May 2011 arrest in which a police officer stopped a car after it continued through an intersection without turning despite having its turn signal activated.
The judges concluded in the Oct. 19 ruling that there was nothing in Indiana law that makes it illegal to drive through an intersection with an activated turn signal without turning or changing lanes.
