The Pennsylvania Superior Court recently issued a new ruling on driving under the influence.
A Pennsylvania State Trooper followed a suspected drunk driver for approximately a quarter of a mile to check for speeding before pulling him over. According to state law, the police officer who is following a person for a possible speeding offense must follow the person for three tenths of a mile in order to clock their speed.
In the most recent opinion, the judges found that there was no other reason other than a potential speeding violation to pull over the driver. Since the trooper had not followed the driver far enough, he had no probable cause to pull him over for speeding and therefore no probable cause for the DUI stop.
Therefore if you are driving through Centre County on Route 80 on the way to State College for a Penn State football game and are pulled over for a DUI where the first issue was speeding, this case may help in your defense.
