Can police traffic stops be too lengthy? A 2021 stop in Centre County is the subject of a new federal court ruling that resulted in a vacated seven year sentence for the passenger of the vehicle involved.
It was September of 2021 when Alan Dorsey, of Bellefonte, was a passenger in a car that was stopped by a state police trooper in Centre County.
Court documents show that Dorsey asked the trooper if he could just go home, as he lived directly across the street.
The trooper responded no, stating that he was part of the traffic stop and had Dorsey sit in the back of his police cruiser.
The police report then says that after about a half hour, Dorsey gave the trooper a false name and ran away.
According to police, when he was tracked down, Dorsey was in possession of illegal drugs, as well as a gun and ammunition.
Dorsey eventually pleaded guilty in federal court to a charge of unlawfully possessing ammunition by a convicted felon.
Last July, Dorsey was sentenced to seven years in prison. But last week, the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals tossed out Dorsey’s conviction and prison sentence, basically ruling that the traffic stop was unlawfully extended after the trooper had obtained basic information from the vehicle’s driver.
The ruling sent Dorsey’s case back to court for further proceedings.