State of New Jersey v. ANGELA BAUM and JERMEL MOORE (A-1576-06T5)

Argued April 25, 2007 -- Decided May 30, 2007

New Jersey courts have yet to establish a precise
amount of detention time that will convert a routine traffic stop into a
de facto arrest. As a general rule, the longer a law enforcement traffic
stop continues, the more likely the courts will be to regard the
investigative detention as an arrest. In today’s decision in State v.
Baum, the Appellate Division found that an investigative, roadside
detention of 26 minutes was reasonable, given that the delay was
attributed to the false stories of the driver and passenger as well as
some small measure of delay attributable to the police. Note when reading
the decision that the court quotes precisely what the police and
defendants said to each other at the scene of the motor vehicle stop. This
evidence, (as well as the precise time of the investigative detention) was
obviously taken from a video recording of the stop, and was a crucial
factor in the State’s ability to persuade the Appellate Division to
reverse the Law Division holding at the trial level.

Click here for the complete ruling in State of New Jersey v. ANGELA BAUM and JERMEL MOORE (A-1576-06T5) in PDF format.