State v. Stuart

In State v. Stuart, 192 W. Va. 428, 452 S.E.2d 886 (1994), the Court concluded that the innocuous fact that a vehicle was driving at 25 miles per hour in a 35 miles per hour zone on a relatively straight road at 1:00 a.m. was insufficient evidence, standing alone, to establish a reasonable suspicion to stop the vehicle. However, when that evidence was combined with an anonymous telephone call to a police dispatcher reporting that a drunk driver was in the area driving a Mercury Grand Marquis with a particular West Virginia license plate number, the totality of the circumstances gave rise to a reasonable suspicion that a crime was being committed, and the vehicle could be stopped to further investigate whether the driver was intoxicated.