After arriving at the site of a party where underage drinking was suspected, Alaska State Trooper Travis Bordner approached a vehicle driven by Anton Majaev. Majaev pulled away to leave the scene but stopped when he saw the trooper walk into the road to look at the license plate of Majaev’s truck. Trooper Bordner waved Majaevback, and Majaev complied with this direction by backing up to speak with the officer. At that time, Trooper Bordner found reason to conduct field sobriety tests, which Majaev subsequently failed. Majaev was charged with driving under the influence and moved to dismiss the case against him on the grounds that he was illegally seized in violation of both the United States Constitution and the Alaska Constitution. The district court denied his motion, and the court of appeals affirmed this denial on the basis that no seizure occurred. We conclude that a reasonable person in Majaev’s position would not have felt free to leave the scene because doing so would have violated the law and that, therefore, a seizure occurred. Accordingly, we reverse the decision of the court of appeals that no seizure occurred and remand for a determination by the district court regarding whether Trooper Bordner had reasonable suspicion to seize Majaev.
It's about time. What law had the accused broken when summoned by the trooper? Aren't we all told to obey the instructions of law enforcement? The Alaskan Supreme Court got this one right. That's more than I can say for the U.S. Supreme Court on a completely different matter regarding the First Amendment Rights of non-citizens, namely corporations to buy political elections.
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