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Copyright © 2017 Albuquerque Journal

Waiting 15 seconds at a green light might be annoying for fellow motorists, but it’s not illegal, a fact that took two years – and two criminal appeals – to establish.

Terence Goodman was driving on Second Street near Downtown Albuquerque in 2012 and rolled up to a red light about 2 a.m. Behind him was Albuquerque Police Department officer Mark Landavazo, who noticed that Goodman took between “five and 15 seconds” to pull into the intersection when the light turned green.

Goodman was immediately pulled over. He was charged with violating the city’s law instructing “vehicles, pedestrians not to obstruct streets.”

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“The delay between the light turning green and (Goodman’s) departure was the sole basis on which Officer Landavazo stopped” Goodman, according to a ruling last fall by state Court of Appeals Judge Roderick Kennedy.

“The crux of this case, though, is under what circumstances failing to move from a dead stop occasioned by a red light gives rise to a reasonable suspicion that a crime has been committed.”

The ruling said Landavazo had no legal standing to pull Goodman over, so any evidence gathered after the illegal stop could not be used against Goodman.

That included the evidence Landavazo used to charge Goodman with his first driving while intoxicated offense in addition to the obstruction charge.

The ruling overturned two Albuquerque judges: Metro Court Chief Judge Henry Alaniz, who denied Goodman’s first argument that the stop was illegal, and District Judge Charles Brown, who heard Goodman’s appeal.

Brown also upheld the DWI case, but Goodman’s attorney, Ryan Villa, appealed again.

The appeals judges said that the city obstruction law Goodman was charged with was vague enough to cause some confusion, like defining exactly what constitutes an obstruction.

“A fifteen-second delay, standing quite alone, without any indication as why it occurred, is no threat to public safety or free use of the city’s roads,” Kennedy wrote in the opinion.

The judges ruled that all evidence taken as fruit of the illegal stop should be suppressed, effectively ending Goodman’s DWI case.

“It is important that police know when they can and cannot pull over a driver, and this case certainly adds to that information,” said Villa, Goodman’s attorney. “I think the police officer in this case was mistaken.”