New Mexico Supreme Court affirms law enforcement’s authority to request passenger ID during traffic stops

The New Mexico Supreme Court on Monday clarified the authority of law enforcement officers to expand the scope of their investigation during a traffic stop to ask a passenger in a vehicle for identifying information..

The high court said the identifying information could include a name and a date of birth.

The court concluded unanimously that a Clovis police officer had the necessary “reasonable suspicion” of criminal activity to ask about the identity of a front seat passenger in a vehicle stopped because of a broken license plate light.

BIDEN SEEKS TO ASSIST NEW MEXICO RESIDENTS SICKENED BY NUCLEAR TESTING RADIATION

The court held that the police officer’s questioning of Hugo Vasquez-Salas was permissible under federal and state constitutional provisions that protect against unreasonable searches and seizures.

Vasquez-Salas was subsequently arrested and convicted in 2018 of possession of burglary tools. He appealed his conviction.

The state’s high court rejected arguments by Vasquez-Salas that the police questioning about his identity lacked a constitutional justification.

He contended a district court should have blocked evidence from the traffic stop introduced at his trial.