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Fed court rules local cop's traffic stop on interstate legal Thursday, Jul 10, 2008 Arkansas News Bureau LITTLE ROCK - A Mulberry police officer lacked authority to make traffic stops and arrests on an interstate highway, but he had probable cause to arrest a man for reckless driving in his presence, a federal appeals panel ruled Wednesday. A three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis affirmed an Arkansas federal judge's decision. Thomas Matthew Rose sued the city of Mulberry and city officials in federal court after his 2005 arrest for a traffic violation on Interstate 40. The reckless driving charge was later dismissed, but Rose argued Officer Robert Limbocker was without jurisdiction to make the arrest and that his search of Rose's car violated Rose's constitutional rights. The officer stopped Rose for going 21 miles over the speed limit and took him into custody after learning Rose had an outstanding California warrant. California officials did not want to extradite Rose, the court said. U.S. District Judge Robert Dawson later ruled the officer had probable cause to arrest Rose, even though the officer did not have the authority to run radar on the interstate because the local police department did not have the appropriate waiver from state police. The federal appeals panel affirmed Dawson's decision Wednesday, noting past court rulings which said warrantless arrests for crimes committed in the presence of an arresting officer are reasonable under the constitution. "Limbocker lacked the authority under Arkansas law to make traffic stops and arrests on the interstate," the ruling said. "Nevertheless, because he had probable cause to arrest for the offense of reckless driving committed in his presence, no Fourth Amendment violation occurred, with the results that Rose's cause of action fails as a matter of law." |
