State v. White, Minn.Ct.App., 1/27/2009. A Bloomington police officer stopped Mr. White's car because he saw a glare from the license plate because it had a clear cover over it. Somehow - it's not explained in the Opinion - this leads to finding a gun in the car. Mr. White did not have a permit for the gun so the officer arrested him.
Mr. White argued that the officer had been unduly parsimonious in the reading of the applicable defective equipment statute, Minn.Stat. 169.79, Subd. 7:
It is unlawful to cover any assigned letters and numbers or the name of the state of origin of a license plate with any material whatever, including any clear or colorless material that affects the plate’s visibility or reflectivity.
Amazingly, two of the three judges on the panel thought that this statute was ambiguous. It just might, they thought, permit plate coverings so long as those coverings didn't affect visibility or reflectivity. So, they - or their clerks - went over to the History Center and rooted around in the boxes of cassette tapes to find the legislative hearings on this statute. Notably proud of this accomplishment, the Opinion quotes from these hearings extensively. Their conclusion is that the phrase beginning, "including ..." is illustrative only.
So, get out the wash bucket and remove all that road grime from your plates.
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