imported post
shad0wfax wrote:
compmanio365 is correct about being stopped while driving a motor vehicle.
However, if you are a
passenger in a motor vehicle that is stopped, and there is no justifiable reason for the officer to ask for ID (No visible contraband like drugs, open container alcohol, or signs that a crime has been committed/about to be comitted) then the passenger does not have to provide ID. This person is free to leave unless the officer can articulate reasonable suspicion to detain.
State v. Rankin
http://srch.mrsc.org:8080/wacourts/template.htm?view=mainresults
Quote:
CONCLUSION
Pursuant to article I, section 7, an individual is free from government intrusion into his private affairs absent authority of law. I would hold: (1) without an independent reason for doing so,
an officer may not require a passenger to produce his or her identification ( see Larson , 93 Wn.2d at 642 ); (2) an officer's mere request for identification from a passenger is not an infringement of privacy; and (3)
a request for identification may be found to be coerced or compelled where there is a show of authority or circumstances presented that would lead a reasonable person to feel compelled to give their identification under the totality of the circumstances.
On the subject of the passenger being free to leave, it might well be their best course of action as in the case of Spokane v Hayes:
http://srch.mrsc.org:8080/wacourts/template.htm?view=mainresults
Quote:
"Mr. Hays was sitting in the passenger seat. He was therefore not seized and was free to walk away from the initial stop. He did not. He elected instead to remain in the vehicle. He was then seized when Officer Dashiell ordered him out of the car. Mendez,
137 Wn.2d at 222. Officers Dashiell and Yamada were nervous about Mr. Hays' intentions. Their safety concerns were reasonable, and therefore tipped the interest balance from Mr. Hays' privacy to officer and public safety. Id. at 220. It was reasonable to ask Mr. Hays to get out of the car."
It would seem that Mr. Hayes best course of action would have been to merely get out of the car and leave (walk, don't run)when the initial stop occured.
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