¶1concurring.
¶2I entirely join in the analysis and judgment of the majority and I write separately solely to emphasize the rationale for Rule 5A:12(c) and the necessity for adherence to it.
¶3As Judge Elder points out in his dissent, counsel for the appellant alleged in the trial court that Officer Bryan lacked “probable cause or a reasonable suspicion of criminal activity to conduct a stop of the vehicle operated by Matthew Moore.” Although phrased in the disjunctive in the trial court, it was apparent to me from appellant’s brief and en banc oral argument, that appellant’s counsel was erroneously using the distinctively different terms of constitutional art—“probable cause” and “reasonable suspicion”—interchangeably. See *5United States v. Arvizu, 534 U.S. 266, 273, 122 S.Ct. 744, 750, 151 L.Ed.2d 740 (2002). This perhaps explains appellant’s failure to allege as error in his issue presented, the actual legal standard relied upon by the trial court. However, such an explanation cannot operate as an excuse.
¶4Some might suggest our disposition of this case is an overly technical application of our Rules. However, under the constitutional and statutory scheme under which we operate, we must decide cases based upon the issues appellants present to us, not the issues they might or should have presented. At both the trial and appellate level, our system of justice is inherently an adversarial system and the courts may not properly assume the role of an advocate for either party.
¶5The rule of law can only exist if laws are administered fairly, rationally, predictably, consistently, and impartially. Our entire judicial system is premised upon the notion that, only a party acting pro se or a professional attorney, making strategic and tactical decisions as an advocate and theoretically in the client’s best interest, may frame the issues the courts must resolve. To second guess counsel for the parties and substitute our collective judgment to re-frame issues in a way that may better serve the appellate interest of one of the parties, would necessarily call into question our objectivity and impartiality with respect to both the other party and the public generally.
¶6Accordingly, we have no alternative but to affirm the judgment of the trial court for the reasons more fully stated in the majority opinion.
¶7concurring in the result.
¶8The majority opinion and Judge Humphreys’ concurring opinion both make a very valid point regarding both the application and purpose of Rule 5A:12(c) as well as our obligation to ensure that appellants adhere to our Rules. It is a point with which I would typically agree. However, in this case I believe that we can decide the basic question presented by the appellant—whether the trial court erred in denying the *6motion to suppress—without doing harm to the purpose or effect of Rule 5A:12.
¶9While it is clear that appellant employed the irrelevant probable cause standard in his question presented, it is also clear that all parties involved in this case addressed the relevant standard of reasonable suspicion in arguing and deciding the case. The defense attorney as well as the Commonwealth’s attorney identified the appropriate standard in their arguments to the trial court. The trial court obviously understood those arguments, commenting that “it basically boils down to whether or not the officer had a reasonable articulable suspicion____” In his opening brief, appellant argued that the officer had neither probable cause nor reasonable suspicion to justify the stop. The Attorney General understood the issue, rephrased the question presented to state the correct constitutional standard, and went on to address it. In a published decision, a panel of this Court decided the case on the merits. Finally, we never asked appellant to address the issue at oral argument. Simply put, at no time prior to our decision did the form of the question presented raise any concern.
¶10This case presents the rare occasion in which I believe that we should exercise our inherent authority to expand the question presented and decide the issue argued—whether the stop of the appellant’s car was in violation of the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution. For that reason, I do not join in the reasoning of the majority.
¶11I do, however, agree with the conclusion reached by the majority. For the reasons stated by the dissent in the panel decision, Moore v. Commonwealth, 49 Va.App. 294, 308-11, 640 S.E.2d 531, 538-39 (McClanahan, J., dissenting), reh’g en bane granted by Moore v. Commonwealth, 49 Va.App. 497, 642 S.E.2d 769 (2007), I would affirm the ruling of the trial court.