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Judge sets briefing schedule after contested search in Cumberland County traffic stop
Summary
In a motion-to-suppress hearing, officers testified that a vehicle stop for a suspended license plate led to a consent search that turned up drug paraphernalia; the court ordered simultaneous briefing and set a hearing date on the suppression motion.
A Cumberland County judge on Tuesday heard testimony in a motion to suppress evidence from a traffic stop and ordered simultaneous briefing and a follow-up hearing. The court heard conflicting testimony about who asked for and who gave consent to search a vehicle stopped for a registration/plate issue.
Officer David Morgan of the local police department testified that he followed the vehicle after running its license plate on the mobile data terminal and learning the plate had been returned as suspended. Morgan said he initiated the stop on North Main after the vehicle passed through a nearby intersection. He told the court he asked the driver, later identified as Miss Watson, for her driver's license, proof of insurance and registration and returned to his cruiser to confirm the plate status with dispatch.
Deputy Lance Watson of the Cumberland County Sheriff's Office testified he responded to the stop after hearing radio traffic, spoke with the driver and asked for consent to search the vehicle. Deputy Watson said the driver consented.
Under cross-examination, Officer Morgan acknowledged he did not personally hear the consent exchange and that his knowledge of consent was based on Deputy Watson advising him that consent had been given. Morgan described finding a floral makeup bag in the vehicle's console containing what he testified was a glass pipe with residue; he said the vehicle also contained a flask and other items later submitted for testing.
Prosecutors and defense counsel disputed how long the stop lasted and whether the circumstances supported a consent search. Morgan estimated the stop was initiated roughly around 03:36 a.m., and the official “time of arrest” recorded on the citation was 04:22 a.m., with the vehicle search taking about 10 minutes. Defense counsel pressed that the only basis initially stated for the stop was the plate/registration issue and that none of the contraband was in plain view.
After hearing testimony from both officers, the judge directed the parties to file simultaneous briefs within 15 days and scheduled a further hearing to resolve the suppression motion.
The court did not rule on the motion at the hearing; rather, it set a briefing schedule and a return date for argument.
The motion-to-suppress hearing was one of the lengthier contested matters on the docket and drew live testimony from two law-enforcement witnesses.
