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From the Court of Appeals of Minnesota, September 17, 2009:
Court of Appeals of Minnesota, Respondent,
vs.
Michael Charles McCalip, Appellant.
UNPUBLISHED OPINION
Appellant challenges his conviction of DWI on the basis that his vehicle was unconstitutionally stopped and seized. Here, apellellant voluntarialy pulled his vehicle to the side of the road after observing an oncoming squad car make a u-turn. After appellant legally stopped his vehicle on the side of the road, the squad car pulled in behind and acitivated his emergency lights.
The court affirmed appellant's conviction reasoning that activation of the squad car lights did not constitute a seizure. The court relies on State vs. Hanson, 501 N.W. 2d 677:
The supreme court stated that a reasonable person would think that the officer was merely stopping to see what going and to offer help if needed. The court concluded that because it was dark and because both cars were on the shoulder of the highway far from any town, a reasonable person would know that the emergency lights were simply to warn other drivers that parked cars and persons were on the shoulder of the road. The holding in Hanson also underscored that the seizure test focuses on the mindset of a reasonable person in the defendants position and not the officer's mindset. There, the supreme court found no seizure despite the officers testimony that his purpose in activating his emergency lights was to tell the defenfant that he could not leave.
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