Glick

The People appeal from the dismissal of the action following the grant of defendant Daniel Glick’s suppression motion (Pen. Code, §§ 1385, 1238, subd. (a)(7)). The trial court granted the motion after finding that the arresting officer acted unreasonably when he stopped defendant’s car in the erroneous belief that the New Jersey license plate was missing a registration sticker. We conclude that the officer’s mistake did not preclude a finding of reasonableness and the traffic stop was lawful.

I

While on patrol at 11 p.m., Police Officer David Kozicki stopped defendant while driving a Ford Mustang because its New Jersey license plates displayed no current registration tags. Unknown to the officer, New Jersey law does not require renewal tags to be placed on the license plate of private vehicles as does California. Instead, that state requires the annual reinspection of such vehicles for safety and equipment violations. (N.J. Stat. Ann., § 39:8-2; N.J. Admin. Code, tit. 13, § 13:20-32.1.) This is evidenced by a reinspection approval sticker which is displayed in the lower left-hand corner of the windshield. (N.J. Admin. Code, tit. 13, §§ 13:20-32.9, 13:20-33.1(h); N.J.…