WHREN V. UNITED-STATES - THE CONSTITUTIONALITY OF PRETEXTUAL STOPS

Fred Guerrero, a 25 year old male of Mexican descent, is travelling at night with his wife from Florida to Mexico during the Christmas holid ays to visit his family. He is travelling along a 100 mile stretch of Interstate 10 between Jefferson Davis Parish and the Texas state line which is known for its high incidence of drug trafficking. Two vice sq uad officers, observing the Mexican occupants and out-of stare plates during routine drug surveillance, become suspicious of Guerrero and be gin to follow him although they have no articulable facts to support t heir suspicions. Over the 25 mile surveillance, Guerrero never abridge s the speed limit, but on one occasion he fails to use his turn signal while changing lanes-a clear violation of the traffic code. Seizing u pon this violation as an opportunity to search for drugs or other ille gal paraphernalia and question Guerrero and his wife, the officers sto p Guerrero for failing to use his signal. The officers then arrest Gue rrero on the minor traffic charge in order to validly search him and q uestion both he and his wife. During their search, the officers discov er a large sum of money which Guerrero explains to be a portion of his income to be brought back to his family in Mexico. The officers also discover what appears to be a single marijuana cigarette in Guerrero's shirt pocket Based on the officers' assessment that, more likely than nor, the objects had been involved in activities related to drug traf ficking, the officers confiscate both the car and the money, pursuant to the state's property forfeiture act.