Nashville, Tenn. – The Tennessee Supreme Court today unanimously affirmed the Court of Criminal Appeals decision to uphold the detention and questioning of a reckless driver of a tractor trailer based on an anonymous tip.
In this case, State of Tennessee v. Jerry Lee Hanning, a police officer received a radio dispatch that an anonymous caller had reported the reckless driving of an 18-wheeler on the interstate. The caller provided a specific description of the truck and advised where it had exited off of the interstate. The police officer found the truck parked on the exit ramp and proceeded to question the driver, administer field sobriety tests, and arrest the driver for driving under the influence.
The driver, Jerry Lee Hanning, entered a conditional guilty plea to driving under the influence and asserted that his arrest and detention violated his Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable search and seizure. In his argument to the Supreme Court, Hanning contended the officer lacked reasonable suspicion to detain him because the officer did not personally observe the truck being driven recklessly.
Justice Sharon G. Lee, who delivered the opinion of the court, wrote that the “the anonymous tip reporting reckless driving indicated a sufficiently high risk of imminent injury or death to members of the public to warrant immediate intervention by law enforcement officials.”
Justice Lee also stated that it was important for the officer to take action, noting that “had the officer refrained from detaining Mr. Hanning and allowed him to resume driving, either Mr. Hanning or another member of the public may well have been killed or injured.”
The opinion recognizes that when a vehicle is being driven recklessly there is an indication that the driver may be under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
“The imminent danger presented by drunk driving and the public’s interest in eliminating this problem are obvious and indisputable,” stated Justice Lee, citing recent statistics of the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration showing that in 2007 approximately 13,000 people were killed by drunk drivers nationally.
With this opinion, the Supreme Court affirmed the decisions of the Court of Criminal Appeals and Criminal Court of Loudon County to deny Hanning’s motion to suppress the evidence obtained during his arrest.
Students attending Boys State in Cookeville heard the oral arguments in the case as part of the Supreme Court Advancing Legal Education of Students (SCALES) program. Following oral arguments, the students had the opportunity to question the attorneys who argued the case. The students will also get a copy of the Supreme Court opinion that was filed today.