 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
State v. Boyea12/1/2000
been standing next to a building, fled upon seeing a four car police caravan driving by, apparently on its way to an area known for heavy narcotics trafficking. Officers Nolan and Harvey chased him down and conducted a protective pat-down search for weapons. Discovering a .38 caliber handgun, the officers arrested Wardlow for unlawful use of a weapon by a felon. He was convicted of same in a bench trial.
The Illinois Appellate Court reversed Wardlow's conviction, concluding that the gun should have been suppressed because the officer lacked reasonable suspicion sufficient to justify an investigative stop pursuant to Terry. The Illinois Supreme Court agreed, holding that sudden flight in a high crime area does not create a reasonable suspicion justifying a Terry stop. In a split decision, the Supreme Court reversed, deciding the case solely on the question of whether the initial stop was supported by reasonable suspicion. The Court found that the location of the stop (a high crime area), coupled with Wardlow's actions - he fled - were sufficiently suspicious to warrant further investigation. It wrote: " he determination of reasonable suspicion must be based on commonsense judgments and inferences about human behavior. . . . Officer Nolan was justified in suspecting the Wardlow was involved in criminal activity, and, therefore, in investigating further." Id. at 676. While conceding that there may be innocent reasons for fleeing from the police and, therefore, that flight is not necessarily indicative of ongoing criminal activity, the Court nevertheless re-emphasized the holding of Terry that the officers could detain the individual to resolve the ambiguity presented.
Four justices dissented from the Court's conclusion that officer Nolan had reasonable suspicion sufficient to stop Wardlow. As Justice Stevens, who authored the dissenting opinion, succinctly stated, "I am not persuaded that the mere fact that someone standing on a sidewalk looked in the direction of a passing car before starting to run is sufficient to justify a forcible stop and frisk." Id. at 684. While Wardlow did not involve an anonymous tip but rather the observations of the apprehending police officers, it does illustrate how lean the facts of suspicious circumstances may be and still weigh in favor of the law enforcement officer's actions. Most recently, in March of this year, the Court decided Florida v. J.L., 120 S.Ct. 1375 (2000). Contrary to the dissent's assertion, Florida v. J.L is not a closely analogous case. It does, however, reveal where the Court will draw the line when anonymous callers allege concealed criminal activity.
The facts in J.L. are set forth in the majority and dissenting opinions, so I mention them only briefly. In J.L. the police received an anonymous tip of concealed wrongdoing, specifically that a person was carrying a gun. The Court, in a unanimous decision, held that such a tip was insufficient to justify a police officer's stop and frisk of that person, because, while the tip gave an accurate description of a subject's readily observable location and appearance, it did not show "that the tipster ha knowledge of concealed criminal activity. The reasonable suspicion here at issue requires that a tip be reliable in its assertion of illegality, not just in its tendency to identify a determinate person." Id. at 1379.
The Court also rejected the state's argument that the Terry analysis should be modified to license a "firearm exception." Id. It reasoned that an automatic firearm exception to the established reliability analysis would "rove too far," enabling anyone to harass another by setting in motion intrusive, embarrassing police searches by merely placing an anonymous cal
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Vermont DUI Attorneys
DUI Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|