Court: Daughter's tip justified traffic stop that led to DUI conviction

Mother tried to suppress evidence based on a Fourth Amendment argument that the stop was unreasonable

A daughter’s tip that her mother might be drinking and driving was sufficient to justify officers pulling the mother over, the South Dakota Supreme Court has ruled.

That traffic stop ultimately led to Malia Rosa being charged with driving under the influence and open container. The Court ruled that the tip from Rosa’s 14-year-old daughter, identified as A.R., was enough to overcome the Fourth Amendment’s protections against unreasonable searches, even though A.R. had not physically been with Rosa when she made the tip to law enforcement.

Rosa moved to have the evidence suppressed in her trial, arguing it violated the Fourth Amendment because officers did not have probable cause or reasonable suspicion to seize her. The trial court rejected Rosa’s argument, and a divided Supreme Court affirmed the decision in an opinion published Thursday.

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