Commonwealth v. Knight-Walker

Syllabus

After a police officer stopped defendant on suspicion of driving on a suspended license, he inquired about the presence of drugs or weapons in the car. The questions took approximately twelve seconds. A divided panel of the Court of Appeals held that these questions impermissibly extended the traffic stop in violation of the Fourth Amendment and that, as a consequence, evidence seized following those questions must be suppressed. On this appeal, it is held that -- under the circumstances of this case -- the officer did not impermissibly prolong the stop in violation of the Fourth Amendment. Therefore, the judgment of the Court of Appeals is reversed.