Hibel v. Sixth Judicial Dist. Court of Nevada case brief

Hibel v. Sixth Judicial Dist. Court of Nevada case brief summary
542 U.S. 177 (2004)

CASE SYNOPSIS

Defendant was convicted of obstructing and delaying a public officer in attempting to discharge his duty, in violation of Nev. Rev. Stat. § 199.280 (2003), because he refused to identify himself as required by Nev. Rev. Stat. § 171.123 (2003). The Supreme Court of Nevada rejected defendant's Fourth Amendment challenge to the conviction. Defendant asserted Fourth and Fifth Amendment challenges. Certiorari was granted.

CASE FACTS
A police officer responded to a call reporting that a man assaulted a woman. The officer found defendant standing outside a parked truck with a woman inside the truck. The officer asked for defendant's identification 11 times and was refused each time. The officer arrested defendant. Defendant was convicted for obstructing the officer in carrying out his duties under Nev. Rev. Stat. § 171.123, a "stop and identify" statute that required defendant only to disclose his name.

DISCUSSION

• The United States Supreme Court determined that the Terry stop, the request for identification, and the State's requirement of a response did not contravene the guarantees of the Fourth Amendment, because the request for identity had an immediate relation to the purpose, rationale, and practical demands of the Terry stop. 
• Also, the request for identification was reasonably related in scope to the circumstances which justified the Terry stop. 
• The Court also determined that defendant's conviction did not violate the Fifth Amendment's prohibition on compelled self-incrimination, because disclosure of his name presented no reasonable danger of incrimination.

CONCLUSION

The United States Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the Nevada Supreme Court.

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