Jimmy Paul Pickle, Appellant v. State of Arkansas, Appellee

Summary

The court held that, even assuming the game wardens could conduct a warrantless hunting-compliance inspection without reasonable suspicion, they unlawfully extended the encounter by conducting a warrant check after the compliance inquiry had ended and then returning to arrest and search Pickle. Because the officers had not developed reasonable suspicion of criminal activity before beginning that unrelated investigation, the resulting evidence was obtained through an unlawful detention and search. Justice Goodson, concurring in part and dissenting in part, would have affirmed because an NCIC check is not a search or seizure; Justice Danielson, dissenting, would have upheld routine wildlife-compliance checks as reasonable.