NE Supreme Court Throws Out Traffic Stop That Led to Cocaine Seizure
Posted 12 months ago
The Nebraska Supreme Court says a car momentarily crossing a highway lane divider is not a good reason to stop it — a ruling that likely will overturn the drug conviction of a man whose car was carrying more than 60 pounds of cocaine.
The high court’s ruling came Friday in the case of 26-year-old Doan Au, of St. Louis, who was a passenger in a car pulled over in September 2010. The car was stopped for briefly crossing the line dividing eastbound lanes of Interstate 80. A subsequent search turned up cocaine in the trunk.
Au, who was sentenced to 10 to 12 years in prison, said the trial judge should have thrown out evidence from the stop and search, and the state’s high court agreed.