State v. Wilkins – 2009 MT 99
Issue: Whether a person in a parked vehicle is necessarily seized when an officer stops behind the parked vehicle without activating the emergency lights on the patrol car and contacts the person in the vehicle.
Noting that the officer did not initiate the stop of Wilkins’ vehicle, the officer did not impede her liberty by means of physical force or show of authority, the officer did not have his emergency lights or sirens on, nor did he shine a spotlight into her car – SCOMONT concluded that the stop in a public place did not amount to a seizure. Because there was no seizure, there was no need to engage in an analysis of particularized suspicion or the community caretaker doctrine. Without a seizure, particularized suspicion was not necessary to justify the contact and the evidence obtained from the interaction was admissible.
