BARNES, J.
On September 1, 2007, at 7:45 a.m., Webster was riding in a car that belonged to her and was driven by her boyfriend, Eddy Turner. Indiana State Police officer William Parchman was patrolling in South Bend, when he observed two cars speeding. One of the cars was the car Turner was driving. Trooper Parchman pulled over both vehicles. Before Turner stopped, however, he allowed Webster to get out of the car near the Pilot gas station where she worked. Turner then pulled behind Trooper Parchman’s car and stopped. Webster stood at the corner, across the busy four-lane street, approximately sixty-five to seventy-five feet away, watching Trooper Parchman conduct the traffic stop.
During the stop Turner indicated that he did not have a driver’s license and could not find the vehicle registration. Thinking the registration might have been in Webster’s purse, Trooper Parchman instructed Webster to come across the street. Webster complied, carrying a large flexible cloth drawstring purse in both hands. The bottom of the purse “appeared to be stretched,” and Trooper Parchman thought it contained a gun. Tr. p. 11. Trooper Parchman instructed her not to put her hands in the purse and began to walk toward her. Trooper Parchman told Webster, “not to put her hands in her purse, that [he] needed to check the contents of her purse and then later see her ID.” Id. at 12. Webster began to pull the drawstring open, Trooper Parchman again told her not put her hands in her purse, and Webster said she was getting her identification. Webster reached into her purse, and Trooper Parchman rushed toward her, grabbing her purse and her arm. Trooper Parchman asked Webster to release the purse, but Webster refused and tried to pull it away with her whole body. At that point, Trooper Parchman “took her to the ground,” handcuffed her, and secured her purse. Id. at 13. While Webster was laying face down and handcuffed, Trooper Parchman opened the purse and found cocaine. Webster told Trooper Parchman that the cocaine was hers.
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We resolve this case solely under the Indiana Constitution. Article 1, Section 11 of the Indiana Constitution tracks the language of the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution verbatim. Litchfield v. State, 824 N.E.2d 356, 359 (Ind. 2005). Nevertheless, “Indiana has explicitly rejected the expectation of privacy as a test of the reasonableness of a search or seizure.” Id. The legality of a governmental search under the Indiana Constitution turns on an evaluation of the reasonableness of the police conduct under the totality of the circumstances. Id. Although there may be other relevant considerations under the circumstances, the reasonableness of a search or seizure turns on a balance of: 1) the degree of concern, suspicion, or knowledge that a violation has occurred, 2) the degree of intrusion the method of the search or seizure imposes on the citizen’s ordinary activities, and 3) the extent of law enforcement needs. Id. at 361.
Here, the degree of concern that Webster had violated the law was low. Although Webster had been a passenger in a car that Trooper Parchman stopped for speeding, it appears to be undisputed that she got out of the car to go to work. Moreover, even when Trooper Parchman asked Webster to cross the four lane road and come to him, he did so because he thought she might have had the registration, not based on a suspicion that she was a participant in criminal activity. See Tr. p. 18.
As for his suspicion that the purse contained a gun, Trooper Parchman testified that when Webster was about halfway across the street, which would have been at least thirty feet away, he noticed that she was holding her purse with two hands and that “the bottom portion of the purse tended – – appeared to be stretched.” Id. at 11. Based on his “training and experience,” Trooper Parchman thought there was a handgun in the purse. Id. Purses may contain a variety of objects that can cause them to bulge or stretch. In fact, Trooper Parchman agreed that “it’s not unusual for a woman to have a cloth purse that is sagging[.]” Id. at 18. Trooper Parchman’s generalized concern that Webster was carrying a gun was clearly based on mere speculation. The fact that Webster held onto her purse and turned away from Trooper Parchman did not increase the level of suspicion so as to justify the warrantless search of the purse.
As for the second Litchfield factor, the degree of the intrusion was high. Webster was standing at least sixty-five feet away on the other side of a busy four-lane road when she complied with Trooper Parchman’s request to come toward him. This in and of itself imposed on Webster’s liberty. Further, when Webster put her hand into her purse, apparently to retrieve her identification, Trooper Parchman tried to grab the purse from her hands and ultimately “took her to the ground,” handcuffed her, and searched her purse without a warrant. Id. at 13. This was a severe intrusion on Webster’s ordinary activity. Finally, Trooper Parchman conducted a search of Webster’s purse. Our supreme court has observed, “we believe that society accepts as objectively reasonable that persons have a legitimate expectation of privacy in their purses and other closed containers that normally hold highly personal items.” Krise v. State, 746 N.E.2d 957, 970 (Ind. 2001). In that sense, the search of Webster’s purse imposed a high degree of intrusion on Webster’s ordinary activities.
As for the extent of law enforcement need, we fully recognize and agree with the need of law enforcement officers to protect themselves from armed suspects. However, we cannot conclude that the concern for officer safety justifies the warrantless search of every purse that is stretched in a manner that suggests it could conceivably contain a gun. See Litchfield, 824 N.E.2d at 360 (“[T]he degree of intrusion may render a search unreasonable, even where law enforcement needs are obviously present.”). Once Trooper Parchman secured the purse, any gun that might have been in it posed little threat to his safety.
Based on the totality of the circumstances, we conclude that the degree of suspicion was low, that the degree of the intrusion was high, and that once the purse was secured any law enforcement need for the warrantless search was low. The warrantless search of Webster’s purse was not reasonable, and evidence obtained therefrom must be suppressed.
MAY, J., concurs.
BAKER, Chief Judge, dissenting:
I respectfully dissent from the majority’s determination that Trooper Parchman’s warrantless search of Webster’s purse violated her rights under Article 1, Section 11 of the Indiana Constitution.
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. . . When considering the circumstances here, including the bulge in Webster’s purse and her actions, such as the continued disobedience of Trooper Parchman’s demands that she not reach into the purse, I cannot agree with the majority’s declaration that Trooper Parchman’s level of suspicion could not have “increase[d].” Slip op. at 5.
In my view, all of these factors-coupled with the fact that the suspect vehicle dropped Webster off on the other side of the road-afforded Trooper Parchman with the reasonable suspicion that criminal activity was afoot.