Renee heard the emphasis. She had heard it before. Is there a problem with my identification, officer? Kowalsski didn't answer. He walked back to the cruiser.
In the rear view mirror, she watched him show her license to another officer. They looked at her car. One of them said something. The other one laughed. Then the door of the command van opened and Sergeant Dana Puit stepped out.
Dana Puit moved like a man who had never once been told no. He was broad across the shoulders mid-40s with a sergeant stripes and the kind of slow deliberate walk that was designed to communicate one thing above everything else that he was in no hurry because he didn't need to be. because you were going to wait for him regardless. He approached the driver's side of Renee's Camry and stood there for a moment without speaking. Flashlight aimed at her face. Step out of the vehicle, ma'am.
No greeting, no explanation, just the command flat and final. Renee kept her hands on the steering wheel. May I ask the reason, Sergeant? My license is valid. My registration is current.
Step out. Enhanced compliance protocol. Chakin enhanced compliance protocol requires articulated reasonable suspicion under Terry versus Ohio. Renee said her voice even precise. What is your reasonable suspicion?
Puit tilted his head slightly. Behind him, Kowalsski had drifted closer. Oh, we got a law professor. Kowalsski said loud enough to carry. A second officer near the command van snorted.
Puit ignored the commentary. Out of the vehicle last time I'm asking. His hand moved to rest on his belt near his radio. Not his weapon. Not yet.
But the message was plain. Renee opened the door and stepped out slowly. Movements deliberate. Nothing sudden. The October rain was fine and cold against her face.
She was still in her workclo. dark blazer, pressed slacks, the small gold pin on her lapel that she had worn every day for 19 years, a gift from her mother the morning of her first day on the bench. I'd like your badge numbers, please, both of you. She looked at Kowalsski, then back to Puit. And I'd like to note for the record that I am complying voluntarily and under protest. There's no record, Puit said.
There is mine, Renee replied. She had her phone in her jacket pocket. She had pressed record before she stepped out of the car. Hands on the hood, Puit said. She placed her hands on the hood of his cruiser.
The metal was cold and wet. She looked straight ahead. Kowalsski moved to her right. She tracked him in her peripheral vision. We're going to conduct a brief search, ma'am. standard protocol was I do not consent to a search, Renee said clearly.
Delaware versus Prow establishes that checkpoint stops must be limited in scope. I am not consenting to anything beyond the initial identification request. Sounds like somebody googled some stuff on the way here, Kowalsski said. I didn't Google it, Renee said. I argued it.
Neither officer responded to that. Puit reached for her satchel, which she had set on the hood beside her hands. "What's in the bag? " "Illelgal documents. I'm an attorney. " "We'll verify that," Puit said, unzipping it without asking again. Renee watched him rifle through the contents of her bag, the sentencing memorandum, the case files, her reading glasses.
In their soft case, her federal court ID badge at the bottom beneath a copy of the eighth circuit's latest procedural guidelines. Puit lifted the badge, glanced at it, set it aside without comment. He either didn't register what it said or didn't care. My dear, he said to Kowalsski. Then to Renee, we're going to need you to come with us while we run additional verification.
On what basis? On the basis that I said so. Three cars back in the queue, a woman had her phone out recording. Renee could see it in her peripheral vision, the small bright rectangle of a screen angled carefully over the steering wheel. Puit noticed it, too.
He signaled to a third officer with two fingers. That officer walked back down the line, knocking on windows, making people put their phones away. "Your body camera light is off, Officer Kowalsski," Renee said. She said it calmly the way she said everything. I'm noting that for the record.
Done a mind your own. Kowalsski stopped himself. Started again. Equipment malfunctions happen at very convenient times. Renee observed.
Puit stepped close. You've got a real mouth on you for someone in your position. My position is standing in the rain having my constitutional rights violated, Renee said. I'd say my mouth is the least remarkable thing about this situation. Something shifted in Puit's expression.
Not anger exactly, more like the particular irritation of a man who had expected fear and received something else entirely. "Cuff her," he said to Kowalsski. "Obstruction of a lawful checkpoint inspection. " "I cited legal precedent," Renee said. "That is not obstruction. It is when I say it is.