Nevada Supreme Court upholds traffic stop arrest

The Supreme Court ruled police were within their rights to arrest a California man stopped for a minor traffic violation.

The case involving Richard Leroy Morgan became an issue when Reno police found 34 grams of cocaine on him after his arrest.

Morgan was stopped in February 2001 after an officer saw his vehicle driving down the street at night with lights off. The officer said Morgan was cooperative and provided him with vehicle registration and proof of insurance. But his driver's license showed he had been suspended in California for failing to pay fines and that, on several occasions, he had failed to appear in court after being cited.

Officer Jason Stallcop decided to arrest Morgan saying his history shows there was a good chance he wouldn't show up or pay the fine.

The drugs - worth more than $3,000 on the street - were discovered when Morgan was booked and led to his conviction for trafficking and sentenced to a minimum 10 years in prison.

He appealed arguing the cocaine should be suppressed because his arrest was unreasonable since he was stopped only for a misdemeanor traffic offense and cooperated with the officer.

The high court disagreed saying the arrest was not arbitrary or unreasonable in light of Morgan's past conduct of failing to pay fines or appear in court. Therefore, the judges said, his drug trafficking conviction stands.