OLIVIA - A Minnesota Court of Appeals decision upholds the conviction of a Cosmos man for driving while impaired in Renville County, and the case helps establish how the courts view traffic stops initiated when a vehicle drives on a fog line.
In a published decision released Monday, the court affirmed the 2017 conviction for driving while impaired of Phillip George Kruse, 42, of Cosmos.
Kruse was charged after a sheriff's deputy on routine patrol at 11:50 p.m. Sept. 22, 2016, on County Road 24 observed Kruse drive on the fog line and the center line. The deputy stopped Kruse, conducted a sobriety test and charged him with driving while impaired.
Kruse appealed the conviction on the basis that driving on the fog line did not constitute movement from a traffic lane, and consequently did not provide a constitutional basis for the officer to stop him. Kruse had also argued that the patrolling deputy had driven up to him with bright headlights and that caused him to drive on the fog line.
The court looked at the legislative intent and language for what constitutes a traffic lane. It determined that ... "because the markings that delineate lanes for traffic are not part of the lanes within the meaning" of the applicable Minnesota statute, "Kruse moved from his lane of traffic when he drove on the fog line." That provided the officer with reasonable grounds to suspect a violation of traffic law and stop the defendant, according to the decision.
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The court also indicated that it did not believe that the officer's fast approach in a squad car with bright headlights was unreasonable.
The ruling upholds the defendant's conviction as well as the revocation of his driver's license.
