Arrest or Detainment?

[swhitlow]

Please clear up a matter of discussion between me and some of my co-workers. Here are the two sides:

My Side:
When an officer pulls you over for a traffic violation, you are "detained" for a short period of time while the officer determines the action that needs to take place (i.e. warning, ticket, arrest, etc.) My statement is that you are NOT under arrest at that point. Inly detained.

The Other Side:
The other side (or as I like to refer to them as the "wrong side"
Claims that when yo uare pulled over by an officer that your right to leave is then given up, and you are effectivley "under arrest" because you cannot leave on your own free will. Because by referring to a law dictionary, the meaning of an "arrest" is when you no longer have a right to leave on your own.

So, which one of us is right? Am I legally "under arrest" when a police officer pulls me over for a ticket? Thanks!

 

[I AM ALWAYS LIABLE]

My response:

A traffic stop is normally merely a detention of an individual, not an
arrest. This is due to the fact that most traffic violations are
infractions of the law not crimes. That is not to say that a "detention"
stop cannot become an "arrest" stop very quickly, though.

IAAL

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[This message has been edited by I AM ALWAYS LIABLE (edited August 29, 2000).]