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"  HUNTINGTON &ndash; Supreme scorn fell on Fayette County assistant prosecutor Brian Parsons when he argued that police can stop drivers at random for safety checks.<br /><br />  \"Safety my foot,\" barked Justice Menis Ketchum of the Supreme Court of Appeals in oral argument at Marshall University on Sept. 22.<br /><br />  \"A lonely road at 4 a.m.,\" he told Parsons. \"What I read, frankly, was it's a good way to meet women.\"<br /><br />  Chief Justice Brent Benjamin asked, \"How many safety specialists were there? Was there one? I think none.<br /><br />  \"That makes it look like pretext.\"<br /><br />  Parsons said, \"I feel like the bull that got invited to the bullfight.\"<br /><br />  He represents the state against challenges to two stops that led to convictions on charges of driving under the influence of alcohol.<br /><br />  Courts allow police to stop drivers at random for sobriety checks, after training and under clear rules, but these officers lacked training and rules.<br /><br />  In one case, a Gauley Bridge policeman parked his cruiser sideways on a street and started flashing blue lights.<br /><br />  In the other case, deputies hid their cruiser and stopped traffic on foot.<br /><br />  Jack Thompson of Oak Hill appealed, seeking to overturn the convictions.<br /><br />  At oral argument he said, \"Sometimes we take for granted our rights under the United States and West Virginia constitutions.\"<br /><br />  Benjamin asked if the stops violated constitutional protection from search and seizure, and Thompson said yes.<br /><br />  The Gauley Bridge officer was not properly trained, he said.<br /><br />  Justice Thomas McHugh asked if the officer testified that he had nothing else to do, and Thompson said yes.<br /><br />  Benjamin asked if the penalty would be to exclude the evidence. \"Absolutely,\" Thompson answered.<br /><br />  In response, Parsons cited a U.S. Supreme Court dissent by the late William Rehnquist.<br /><br />  Ketchum said, \"You are asking us to follow a dissent?\" Parsons said yes.<br /><br />  Benjamin asked, \"How is this different from a fireman coming into your house?\"<br /><br />  Parsons said a homeowner doesn't have to have a license.<br /><br />  Ketchum said, \"You had a couple cowboys out there waving lights and they didn't have vests on. They're not going to stop me.\"<br /><br />  Ketchum said, \"They hid the cruiser. They're not interested in safety.\"<br /><br />  Parsons said, \"Would I rather have an officer drinking coffee or out doing something?\"<br /><br />  Ketchum said, \"You can't stop a citizen unless you have reasonable suspicion of a crime.\"<br /><br />  Justice Robin Davis asked why there should be different standards for safety and sobriety when sobriety standards are easy for police and understandable for the public.<br /><br /> The Justices took it under advisement."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://wvrecord.com/stories/510596902-prosecutor-feels-like-bull-in-bullfight-before-justices>