Temporary Registration Case Law

[sotzo]

I read not to long ago new case law, regarding those red pieces of paper that the DMV gives people who pay for temporary registration. The case said a police officer pulled some guy over for having expired tags (4000 (a) ) and i guess he found a bunch of illegal stuff in the car.... the dude had one of those temporary regs, but the cop argued he didn't know it was legit cause he cant see the writing on it... anyways the court suppressed the evidence. Does anyone have a link to that case... or know the name? I cant find it any where?

I am trying to figure out if its still PC to pull someone over if they have no plate but they have the red temp reg displayed.

[ateamer]

I think that the ruling was that because the temp tag was legit, the detention should have ended as soon as the officer made that determination. I will try to find the case citation.

[ateamer]

I found People vs. George Lee Hernandez, 56 Cal Rptr 3rd 471, which has apparently been decertified and depublished. The case involved a deputy who made a car stop because he felt the temporary registration in the window may be forged, based on his experience with previous false temporary tags. Here's an excerpt:

"Here, the question is whether Deputy Paonessa's experience should lead to a different result. Deputy Paonessa testified that in his experience temporary operating permits are “very often” forged. We have no way of discerning the meaning of the statement, “very often,” because Deputy Paonessa did not say how many times he had stopped a car with a temporary operating permit or how many times the permit was valid or invalid. Absent either additional facts justifying a reasonable suspicion of criminal activity, or specific experience Deputy Paonessa had to justify a suspicion that the particular operating permit displayed on defendant's truck was invalid, we cannot say the stop was reasonable. We are unwilling to conclude it is always reasonable to stop a car that does not have any license plates but has a temporary operating permit, because that would effectively mean it is always reasonable to suspect that a temporary operating permit is invalid. Accordingly, we conclude the traffic stop was invalid and thus the trial court erred in denying the motion to suppress."

If the decision was depublished, it isn't citable, but should be considered when doing your job, because it is an indication of how the courts are likely to rule.

[23109]

You can still stop them to verify the temporary registration belongs to that vehicle, but it returns legitimate, you cannot cite them for 4000(a)(1) VC, and your detention has basically come to an end unless you've gotten more out of the stop such as the driver showing objective signs of impairment, plain view items, etc.

[leif]

You can still stop them to verify the temporary registration belongs to that vehicle, but it returns legitimate, you cannot cite them for 4000(a)(1) VC, and your detention has basically come to an end unless you've gotten more out of the stop such as the driver showing objective signs of impairment, plain view items, etc.

Can you cite 5204(a)? What about if the TOP is expired?

[23109]

I would not recommend 5204(a) VC. Technically, they have the proper tabs displayed as long as the temporary is displayed.

If however, the temporary is expired then you are good to go for 4000(a)(1) VC.

[leif]

I would not recommend 5204(a) VC. Technically, they have the proper tabs displayed as long as the temporary is displayed.

If however, the temporary is expired then you are good to go for 4000(a)(1) VC.

would you have to wait a month like you do for the regular tabs?

[pulicords]

I'm familiar with a case in Beverly Hills court that was similar to this. Although I don't know if it was appealed, the judge dismissed the case after the officer failed to articulate why the detention continued beyond the point where he/she determined the vehicle had valid temporary registration. The officer recovered narcotics, but couldn't justify the search after admitting that he/she believed the registration was current (even though CLETS indicated it wasn't), based upon the presence of a temporary registration form.

Had the officer indicated his/her suspicion that the form was either stolen or counterfeit (due to the conflicting DMV/CLETS info), the search may have been allowed.