A federal appeals court has ruled that DeSoto Parish sheriff’s deputies didn’t illegally use a phony checkpoint to catch people driving under the influence of drugs, reports the Associated Press.
In April 2008, deputies placed a sign on a rural road that warned motorists a narcotics checkpoint was ahead, but the checkpoint didn’t exist. Instead, deputies stopped drivers for traffic violations as they turned onto a gravel road just past the sign.
A driver who was pulled over and issued a citation for failing to use a turn signal sued Sheriff Rodney Arbuckle, claiming deputies illegally stopped and searched her car.
On Thursday, however, a three-judge panel from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the ruse checkpoint was constitutional and upheld a judge’s dismissal of the driver’s claims.