State v. Hoerning

In State v. Hoerning, CA 1210013587 (Del. Super. August 2, 2013), the State relied upon statewide data to support its decision to conduct a checkpoint in New Castle County. The Court stated: "... There is a difference between a constitutional requirement and a procedural requirement, which has been established by the law enforcement agency and the appropriate State agency. I have not been presented with any authority that demonstrates that statistically determined location constitutes a constitutional infirmity; particularly, when locations must be determined in consideration of public safety and officer safety. Therefore, I find the selection of the location in this case was constitutionally permissible ... in no way in violation of the defendant's Fourth Amendment rights." Therefore, the Court in Hoerning found that a checkpoint may be based upon area statistical data.