Good faith exception to exclusionary rule applies to search conducted during traffic stop initiated for obscured license plate

SEARCH & SEIZURE United States v. Cardenas-Alatorre, No. 06-2101, ___ F.3d ___ (10th Cir. May 8, 2007)(New Mexico). Appeal of conviction for possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute. HELD: New Mexico statute prohibiting obscuration of vehicle license plate by foreign material in way that renders plate less than clearly legible is susceptible to at least one interpretation giving sufficiently clear and definitive meaning. Therefore, reasonable officer would not necessarily have been on notice that law fell beyond constitutional pale. As result, regardless of whether New Mexico statute is unconstitutionally vague, highway patrol officer acted in objectively reasonable manner in stopping defendant for having portion of license plate text blocked by dealer license frame. Because officer acted in objectively reasonable manner, good faith exception to exclusionary rule applies and drug evidence seized as a result of stop need not be suppressed as fruit of unlawful search. Read the opinion here.