Making "Wide Right Turn" and Weaving Within Lane Support Traffic Stop

State v. Morse, Minn.S.Ct., 4/11/2016.  An officer pulled Mr. Morse over after seeing him make a "wide right turn" and weave once within his lane.  The cop insisted that Mr. Morse crossed over a virtual center stripe and almost hitting a car that was parked on the opposite side of the road.  The squad video didn't really bear the claim about almost hitting another car, however, and the trial judge declined to make a finding about that.  The trial judge did make a finding that the right hand turn was a bit wide and that Mr. Morse "drifted" within his lane.  Based on the obligatory "totality of the circumstances" the trial court upheld the stop and thus the DWI charge.

The court of appeals said that the right turn statute was unconstitutionally ambiguous and vague.  Justice Lillehaug, however, pointed out that no one had really raised that issue in the trial court and so they were not about to wade into that quagmire. The statute says that the turn must be made "as close as practicable to the right-hand curb or edge of the roadway."  Just what that means remains anyone's guess.

On the validity of the stop, here's what the Justices relied upon to conclude that  it was okay:

The relevant circumstances found by the district court included: (1) the squad-car video supporting the officer’s assertion that Morse’s right turn “onto Okabena Street was not as close as practicable to the right-hand curb or edge of the roadway”; (2) the squad car video showing Morse’s vehicle drifting in its lane; (3) the fact that the events occurred close to 2:00 a.m. bar closing time; (4) the fact that Morse was leaving downtown, an area with bars; and (5) the officer’s training and experience.

Weaving within the lane is apparently a proper factor on which to make a traffic stop.  State v. Ellanson, 293 Minn. 490, 198 N.W.2d 136 (1972).  This fact, alone, is apparently enough "totality" to support the stop.