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Criminal Procedure Outline - Professor Fields 2021 - Campbell Law - Part 5
Criminal Procedure Outline - Professor Fields 2021 - Campbell Law - Part 5
By Miller Moreau
Professor Fields - 2021
Download the PDF version of this outline
i. The Stop and Frisk Doctrine
- Terry v. Ohio (1968) (2 men looking into store repeatedly): Court permits a reasonable search for weapons for the protection of the officer, where he has a reason to believe that he is dealing w/an armed and dangerous individual, regardless of whether he has probable cause to arrest the individual for a crime
- Standard = Reasonable Suspicion: officer need not be absolutely certain that the individual is armed; the issue is whether a reasonably prudent man in the circumstances would be warranted in the belief that his safety or that of others was in danger. And in determining whether the officer acted reasonable . . . Due weight must be given not to his inchoate and unparticularized suspicion or hunch, but to the specific reasonable inferences which he is entitled to draw from the facts in light of his experience
- Objective→but look at officer experience so subjective
- Scope: Must be confined in scope to an intrusion reasonably designed to discover guns, knives, clubs, or other hidden instruments for the assault of the police officer
- Standard = Reasonable Suspicion: officer need not be absolutely certain that the individual is armed; the issue is whether a reasonably prudent man in the circumstances would be warranted in the belief that his safety or that of others was in danger. And in determining whether the officer acted reasonable . . . Due weight must be given not to his inchoate and unparticularized suspicion or hunch, but to the specific reasonable inferences which he is entitled to draw from the facts in light of his experience
- Michigan v. Long (1983) (police stopped Long, saw a large hunting knife on the floorboard, frisked Long, entered car and found an open pouch of marijuana under the armrest)
- Extends the self-protective search principle of Terry to search of a vehicle
- Allows police to search anywhere in the car where a weapon may be located, so long as police have reasonable suspicion that suspect could injure them
- So long as the investigation involves a police investigation at ‘close range’
- Hibel v. 5th Jud. District: Constitutional for state to require a suspect to identify himself to police pursuant to a Terry stop
- Heien v. NC: Terry Stop still lawful if police have a mistake of fact or a mistake of law in developing reasonable suspicion
- The Terry Framework – Stop/Seizure
- Is there a stop or seizure? Determined by whether a “reasonable person would feel free to decline the officers’ requests or otherwise terminate the encounter.” If the answer is no, then→
- Supported by reasonable suspicion? Whether a reasonable person w/similar police experience would believe that a crime has been committed or will be committed based on totality of circumstances. If yes, then→
- Stop conducted within permissible scope: Stop may “last no longer than is necessary to effectuate that purpose” of the stop. If yes, valid Terry Stop. If no, then a seizure under the 4th Am requiring probable cause
- The Terry Framework – Frisk/Search
- Reasonable person not free to leave + reasonable suspicion that criminal activity is afoot + limited in time to the time necessary to effectuate the purpose of the stop = lawful Terry Stop→
- As a lawful Terry stop, police may conduct a frisk of the person’s body/clothes, but only for weapons, not for evidence. If they feel something that can be a weapon, can remove from clothing seize→
- If the Terry Frisk results in contraband (weapon or other contraband), the reas suspicion turns into prob cause and police may arrest individual
ii. Reasonable Suspicion
- Alabama v. White (1990) (anon tip that would be leaving apartment and certain time and going to motel, pulled her over): Anonymous telephone tip regarding the presence of cocaine, as corroborated by independent police work, was sufficient reasonable suspicion to make the Terry Stop
- Because the tip had an indicia of reliability (via sufficient corroboration), there was reasonable suspicion to stop the vehicle
- Probable Cause:
- A fair probability that contraband or evidence of a crime will be found
- Totality of the circumstances
- Anonymous tips Gates: “the anonymous tip contained a range of details relating not just to easily obtained facts and conditions existing at the time of the tip, but to future actions of 3rd parties ordinarily not easily predicted
- Reasonable Suspicion:
- More than an inchoate and unparticularized suspicion or hunch
- Some minimal level of justification for making the stop
- Less demanding standard than PC
- Can arise from info that is less reliable than that required to show PC
- Different in quantity or content than PC
- Totality of the circumstances
- The majority:
- Court had already held that reas suspicion can arise from info that is less reliable than that required to show probable cause
- A tip that has a relatively low degree of reliability, more info will be required to est. the requisite quantum of suspicion than would be required if the tip were more reliable
- What was important was the caller’s ability to predict respondent’s future behavior
- Court said this was a close call
- Illinois v. Wardlow (2000) (high crime area, def fled upon seeing officers): Unprovoked flight from police officers alone does not support reasonable suspicion; however, reasonable suspicion is a totality of the circumstances analysis and the unprovoked flight from police officers may be a consideration in the totality of the circumstances analysis
- High crime area + something else = reasonable suspicion (totality of the circumstances)
- Florida v. JL: “several courts of appeals have held it per se foreseeable for people carrying significant amount of illegal drugs to be carrying guns as well”
- Reas suspicion is a totality of the circumstances analysis
- Key: behavior for which there can be innocent reasons can support RS
- Stop and Frisk: Terry Stop allows police to stop and frisk based on reasonable suspicion that the suspect is armed and dangerous (limited in scope to weapons, not evidence)
- Reasonable suspicion: Lesser standard than probable cause; objective standard from perspective of police officer
- Florida v. JL (2000) (anon caller – man in plaid shirt at bus stop has gun)
- Issue: whether an anonymous tip that a person is carrying a gun is, w/o more, sufficient to justify a police officer’s stop and frisk of that person
- Holding: No, an anonymous tip lacking indicia of reliability of the kind contemplated in Adams and White does not justify a stop and frisk whenever and however it alleges the illegal possession of a firearm (no independent police work here)
- Rule:
- Rejects automatic firearm exception
- Affirms White, for an anonymous tip to be enough reasonable suspicion to support a Terry stop, you need an additional indicia of reliability
- What suffices as an indicia of reliability:
- When the anonymous call provides “predictive information”
- Not its tendency to identify a determinative person
- When a person provides reliable tips 2 night in a row and the voice sounds familiar?
- When the informant places his identity at risk?
- When an unnamed person driving a car stops for a moment and tells the police officer face to face that criminal activity is occurring?
Related Topics
- Criminal Defense
- DUI/DWI
- Drug Crimes
- Larceny, Embezzlement & Fraud
- Domestic Violence, Assault & Battery
- Chapter 15 - Criminal Procedure
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