Hernandez

An officer who sees a vehicle displaying a temporary operating permit in lieu of license plates may not stop the vehicle simply because he or she believes that such permits are often forged or otherwise invalid. To support a stop the officer must have a reasonable suspicion that the particular permit is invalid. Otherwise, any car with such a permit could be stopped without particularized cause.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Sheriff’s Deputy Anthony Paonessa saw defendant George Lee Hernandez driving a pickup truck with no license plates, but displaying a temporary operating permit in the rear window.

Any vehicle driven on the roadway must display valid license plates or a valid temporary permit. (Veh. Code, §§ 4156, 5200, 5201, 5202.) Nothing about defendant’s permit appeared amiss and Deputy Paonessa saw no other violations. Nevertheless, Paonessa decided to effect a traffic stop. He discounted the presence of the apparently valid permit because, in his experience, such permits are “very often” forged or have been issued for a different vehicle, or the vehicle itself is stolen.

Deputy Paonessa told Hernandez he was stopped because he had no license plates.…