June 2009 | Volume 8 | No.
Investigative Stops
Law Bulletin
in this issue:
Reasonable Suspicion
Officer stops murder
suspect’s sister-in-law
after hearing that she
was nervous about a gun.............1
Report of ATM burglary
fails to include description
of suspect.....................................2
Officer sees car parked in
road in high-crime area................3
Officer suspects drug deal,
nervous man jumps out of car
while clutching stomach...............4
Traffic Stop
Suspect flees scene
of search warrant.........................6
Investigative
Stops Law Quiz .....................7
In Brief......................................7
Reasonable Suspicion
Officer stops murder suspect’s sister-in-law after
hearing that she was nervous about a gun
Citation: Poolaw v. Marcantel, 2009
WL 1176466 (10th Cir. 2009)
The 10th U.S. Circuit has ju-
risdiction over Colorado, Kansas,
New Mexico, Oklahoma, Utah, and
Wyoming.
Deputy McGrane was shot and
killed while conducting a traffic
stop. Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Of-
fice investigators determined that the
truck Deputy McGrane had stopped
belonged to Astorga, who was also
wanted in connection with the No-
vember 2005 homicide of Martinez.
Based on this information, the in-
vestigators identified Astorga as the
primary suspect in the McGrane ho-
micide, and a manhunt ensued.
Officer Marcantel telephoned
Rick Poolaw, a retired New Mexico
State Police officer and acquain-
tance. Rick confirmed that his
daughter Marcella was married to
Astorga. At the time of the inves-
tigation, Rick lived with his wife,
Cindy, and their daughter Chara.
Police obtained a search warrant
and searched the Poolaw’s residence,
but found nothing.
A few days later, Officer Marc-
antel learned that Chara had called
Cindy and had asked whether she
could “get in trouble” for having a
gun. Based on “the fact that Chara
was a loved one of Astorga’s wife”
and “her admission that she had a
gun,” Officer Marcantel ordered her
stopped to determine whether the
gun was the Deputy McGrane ho-
micide weapon. Chara was detained,
handcuffed, and held in a squad car
while her car was searched. After the
gun found in her car was determined
not to be the murder weapon, she
was released.
Poolaw sued the police depart-
ment, alleging the stop of Chara was
unlawful. The court ruled in Pool-
aw’s favor.
The police appealed, arguing that
the stop was justified because Chara
told her mother she was anxious
about having a gun in her car, Chara
was Astorga’s sister-in-law, and the
McGrane homicide weapon had not
been found.
DECISION: Affirmed.
There was no reasonable suspi-
cion for the stop.
Because it was lawful to carry
a gun in a vehicle in New Mexico,
Chara’s admission that she had a
gun did not weigh heavily in deter-
mining whether there was reason-
able suspicion-particularly in light of
the fact that Officer Marcantel knew
the Poolaws legally owned firearms.
In light of the fact that her home
had just been searched by police,
Chara’s anxiety was similar to ner-
vousness during a police encounter.
In such instances, nervousness was
of limited significance in determining
40737633
Investigative Stops Law Bulletin
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Alex D. Ruskell
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reasonable suspicion. Importantly,
Officer Marcantel failed to connect
additional other factors, such as sus-
picious activities or unlikely stories,
to Chara’s alleged anxiety.
Finally, a person’s mere familial
relationship to others independently
suspected of criminal activity created
neither probable cause nor reason-
able suspicion. Ultimately, Chara’s
status as Astorga’s sister-in-law,
when combined with nothing more
than her possession of a firearm and
her anxiety, failed to establish rea-
sonable suspicion for the stop.
See also: U.S. v. Moran, 503 F.3d
1135, 74 Fed. R. Evid. Serv. 889
(10th Cir. 2007), cert. denied, 128
S. Ct. 2424, 171 L. Ed. 2d 234
(2008).
See also: U.S. v. Lopez, 518 F.3d
790 (10th Cir. 2008).
Editor’s Note: In another case,
the court found reasonable sus-
picion when the suspect ap-
peared nervous, had implausible
travel plans, and suspiciously
purchased a used vehicle. See
U.S. v. Alcaraz-Arellano, 441
F.3d 1252 (10th Cir. 2006).
Report of ATM
burglary fails to include
description of suspect
Citation: U.S. v. Birnie, 2009 WL
1067950 (3d Cir. 2009)
The Third U.S. Circuit has ju-
risdiction over Delaware, New Jer-
sey, Pennsylvania, and the Virgin
Islands.
An anonymous caller alerted po-
lice to a burglary in progress at an
ATM at Wachovia Bank in the 6400
block of Frankford Avenue in Phila-
delphia. At 6:20 a.m., Officer Lewis,
an 18-year police veteran, received
a “flash” radio call that a “white
June 2009 | Volume 8 | No. 6
male, dark, hooded jacket, [was]
breaking into the ATM machine.”
Officer Lewis responded from a lo-
cation two blocks away. He arrived
30 seconds after receiving the re-
port, driving on the wrong side of
the street.
The sun was rising and visibility
was good. There was little traffic on
the street, and the only pedestrians
in the area were clustered around a
nearby bus stop. Officer Lewis saw a
white male, later identified as Birnie,
who fit the description contained in
the flash report standing in front of
the bank.
As Officer Lewis’s patrol car
came to a stop, Birnie stared fixedly
in his direction. Officer Lewis exited
his cruiser, put his hand on his gun,
and approached Birnie, who ap-
peared to be “a little nervous.” Of-
ficer Lewis took Birnie by the arm
and walked him towards the police
car. As he did so, he conducted a
quick pat-down search, removing a
screwdriver and a pair of pliers from
Birnie’s jacket.
Officer Lewis asked Birnie to sit
in the back of his police car. Birnie
complied. After other officers ar-
rived at the scene, Officer Lewis
inspected the ATM. He observed
that the ATM’s plastic casing was
cracked and pulled out, and that
scratch marks were visible around
the metal cash ejection slot.
Birnie was convicted of attempt-
ed theft from an automated teller
machine.
Birnie appealed, arguing that the
flash report did not contain a suf-
ficient description of the suspect to
create reasonable suspicion for the
stop.
DECISION: Affirmed.
The stop was lawful.
Even without a detailed physical
description, the combination of Offi-
cer Lewis’s extensive experience, Bir-
nie’s proximity to a reported crime
Investigative Stops Law Bulletin
in progress, the absence of other pe-
destrians in the area, Birnie’s suspi-
cious behavior in staring at Officer
Lewis, and his visible apprehension
at Officer Lewis’s approach, gave
rise to a reasonable suspicion that
Birnie was involved in criminal ac-
tivity. Moreover, given the nature of
the reported crime, it was reason-
able for Officer Lewis to believe that
Birnie could have a weapon in his
possession (or burglar’s tools that
could be wielded as weapons).
Ultimately, based on the totality
of the circumstances, there was rea-
sonable suspicion for Officer Lewis’s
stop of Birnie.
See also: U.S. v. Ramos, 443 F.3d
304 (3d Cir. 2006).
See also: U.S. v. Agnew, 407 F.3d
193, 67 Fed. R. Evid. Serv. 251 (3d
Cir. 2005).
Editor’s Note: “The test is one
of reasonableness given the to-
tality of the circumstances,
which can include [a defen-
dant’s] location, a history of
crime in the area, [a defendant’s]
nervous behavior and evasive-
ness, and [an officer’s] common
sense judgments and inferences
about human behavior.” See
Johnson v. Campbell, 332 F.3d
199 (3d Cir. 2003).
Officer sees car parked
in road in high-crime
area
Citation: U.S. v. Lopez-Garcia, 2009
WL 1044594 (11th Cir. 2009)
The 11th U.S. Circuit has juris-
diction over Alabama, Florida, and
Georgia.
Officer Maldonado was driving
his patrol car in an area well-known
for narcotics activity-particularly
© 2009 Thomson Reuters
for street-level, hand-to-hand drug
dealing.
Officer Maldonado observed
a gold-colored four-door vehicle
stopped in the right-hand lane of the
roadway. A man was standing out-
side the vehicle, leaning into the pas-
senger side window and speaking to
the driver. As Officer Maldonado’s
cruiser approached, the man at the
car’s window looked up, turned
around, and walked away. Then the
car drove away from the officer’s
cruiser.
Officer Maldonado followed the
vehicle and pulled it over a short
time later, explaining to the driver-
later determined to be Lopez-Gar-
cia-that he had violated a traffic law
by stopping in the roadway. Asked
for his driver’s license, Lopez-Garcia
produced a Mexican license bear-
ing the name “Emanuel Sanchez-
Lopez.” In response to Officer Mal-
donado’s questions, Lopez-Garcia
explained that he had resided in the
United States for several years, and
that the person to whom he had
been speaking was his brother-in-
law.
Officer Maldonado ran a check
on the license and found that al-
though the driver had been issued
identification in Georgia, he was
unlicensed under the name “Eman-
uel Sanchez-Lopez.” Officer Mal-
donado returned to Lopez-Garcia’s
vehicle and asked whether he was
in possession of any illegal narcotics
or weapons. Lopez-Garcia answered
that he had no drugs or weapons,
and he consented to a search of his
person and his vehicle. Under one
of the vehicle’s seats, Officer Mal-
donado found a bulb-shaped glass
tube containing a white residue that
he believed to be methamphetamine.
At that point, Officer Maldonado
placed Lopez-Garcia under arrest
for possession of methamphetamine.
Lopez-Garcia was convicted
of being unlawfully in the United
June 2009 | Volume 8 | No. 6
News Stop
Oakland, California mayor
proposes police layoffs
Because of a budget deficit that
could go over $100 million, Oakland
Mayor Ron Dellums has proposed
laying off 140 police officers, cut-
ting hundreds of other city jobs, and
shuttering offices for nearly a month.
Right now, the police department has
803 officers. However, some city lead-
ers challenged cutting police officers,
considering Oakland’s high crime rate.
The city council, the city administra-
tor, and Mayor Dellums have begun
negotiating with the Oakland Police
Officers Association and two civilian
unions for contract concessions that
could save officer jobs. Mayor Dellums
has also been lobbying Washington
for a $67 million grant that would be
used to pay police officer salaries over
three years. However, the city won’t
know if the money is available until
September. About 70 percent of the
city’s general fund goes to the police
and fire departments.
Source: The San Francisco Chronicle
Michigan budget cuts to
lead to police layoffs
In Michigan, lawmakers approved
Governor Jennifer Granholm’s execu-
tive order to lay off 100 state troop-
ers this summer. Michigan has al-
ready lost nearly 9 percent of its law
enforcement officer positions since
2002. Michigan has about 21,145 law
enforcement officer positions state-
wide, about 2,000 fewer than in 2002.
Michigan’s decline in police staffing is
among the steepest in the nation and
outpaces the state’s population loss
in recent years. The Michigan State
Police have about 1,068 troopers as-
signed to positions across the state,
which is down about 10 percent from
2001 levels, although 82 new troopers
graduated from training in December.
Those new troopers are now expect-
ed to be laid off by July 1. Eighteen
relatively low seniority troopers from
a previous training class will also be
laid off. The layoffs are expected to
save $1.7 million. The state police and
several local police departments have
3
June 2009 | Volume 8 | No. 6
applied for money to add officers
through the federal Community Ori-
ented Policing Services program. The
state police are trying to get enough
money to cover 200 additional troop-
ers. In addition to the layoffs, troop-
ers will be required to minimize the
amount of miles they patrol to save
gasoline.
Source: The Associated Press
Man arrested for
impersonating police
officer
U.S. Marshals arrested Ryan Caskey,
22, who was accused by Dallas au-
thorities of pretending to be a police
officer and going out on several calls.
Caskey was taken into custody at his
parents’ home in California. Dallas po-
lice said Caskey carried a Glock pistol
and kicked in a door while assisting
an officer responding to a report of a
break-in. Caskey told police he was a
member of an FBI task force.
Source: The Associated Press
Police caught off guard
when up to 4,000
teenagers skip school, hit
beach
Revere, Massachusetts, city council-
ors called for coordinated police plan-
ning after authorities were caught off
guard when as many as 4,000 teenag-
ers skipping school got on trains and
headed to Revere Beach, the oldest
public beach in the country. The tem-
perature hit a record 93 degrees that
day. Local, state, and transit police say
they reacted as quickly as possible,
but traffic was tied up on nearby
streets for most of the day. Six people
were arrested, and one injury was re-
ported.
Source: The Associated Press
4 © 2009 Thomson Reuters
States after having been previously
deported.
Lopez-Garcia appealed, arguing
that there was no reasonable sus-
picion for the stop because Officer
Maldonado never witnessed any ac-
tual exchange.
DECISION: Affirmed.
There was reasonable suspicion
for the stop
Here, Officer Maldonado’s suspi-
cion that Lopez-Garcia was engaged
in a hand-to-hand drug transaction
was supported by several specific,
objective, and articulable facts.
First, Lopez-Garcia’s vehicle was
stopped in the roadway; second, the
activity took place in a high-crime
area known specifically for street-
level, hand-to-hand drug transac-
tions; third, an unknown person
was seen leaning into the window
and having a conversation with Lo-
pez-Garcia; and fourth, once he saw
Officer Maldonado, the individual
abruptly withdrew from the car
window, and Lopez-Garcia began to
drive away.
A person’s presence in a high-
crime area, standing alone, was in-
sufficient to establish reasonable
suspicion. However, Officer Mal-
donado’s suspicion was not just
based on the area in which the con-
duct was observed; it was also based
on specific features of the individu-
als’ conduct. Importantly, the fact
that Officer Maldonado never wit-
nessed any actual exchange between
Lopez-Garcia and someone else did
not preclude a finding of reasonable
suspicion.
See also: U.S. v. Yuknavich, 419
F.3d 1302 (11th Cir. 2005).
See also: U.S. v. Arvizu, 534 U.S.
266, 122 S. Ct. 744, 151 L. Ed. 2d
740 (2002).
Investigative Stops Law Bulletin
Editor’s Note: In another case,
the court found an officer had
reasonable suspicion to stop
a driver sitting in a parked car
with its headlights on in the
early morning hours, when that
car was sitting in a lot near sev-
eral businesses that had recently
been robbed. See U.S. v. Brig-
gman, 931 F.2d 705 (11th Cir.
1991).
Officer suspects drug
deal, nervous man
jumps out of car while
clutching stomach
Citation: U.S. v. Jones, 562 F.3d 768
(6th Cir. 2009)
The Sixth U.S. Circuit has juris-
diction over Kentucky, Michigan,
Ohio, and Tennessee.
Detective Mattingly was patrol-
ling in his unmarked pickup truck
in what was regarded as a drug-traf-
ficking neighborhood in Louisville.
He noticed a maroon Nissan auto-
mobile and watched as it came to a
stop in front of a house. The car was
occupied by a white female driver
and two black male passengers.
Detective Mattingly saw one
of the passengers, later identified
as Jones, exit the Nissan and en-
ter the house. While Jones was in
the house-his mother’s house, as it
turned out-the driver and the other
passenger remained in the car with
the engine running. After a couple
of minutes, Jones came out and re-
turned to the waiting car.
Based on his seven years’ expe-
rience in law enforcement and his
observation of these events, Detec-
tive Mattingly suspected he could
be witnessing “flagging.” “Flag-
ging” was a practice where drug
buyers unfamiliar with a neighbor-
hood drive around until someone
Investigative Stops Law Bulletin
flags them down and takes them to
a house to arrange a drug sale. In-
tending to make inquiry of the Nis-
san’s occupants, Detective Mattingly
had in the meantime radioed for
assistance.
Before the Nissan could leave the
curb, Detective Mattingly pulled up
in front of it, so that the front bum-
per of his pickup truck was about
two or three feet from the Nissan’s
front bumper. Almost simultaneous-
ly, Detective McKinney arrived and
pulled his car, also unmarked, up to
within four or five feet behind the
Nissan. As he pulled in behind the
Nissan, Detective McKinney turned
on his emergency lights.
As the Nissan was hemmed in,
Jones did not remain seated in the
back seat of the Nissan. Rather, he
opened the car door and “jumped
out.” It was at this point that De-
tective Mattingly, having already
noticed the confused, nervous, “like
a deer in the headlights” look on
Jones’s face, also noticed a “lump”
or “bulge” on Jones’s person and
saw him “acting weird... kind of
holding his stomach.” Thinking that
Jones was about to run, Detective
Mattingly identified himself as a po-
lice officer and ordered him to stop.
Jones immediately complied.
Detective Mattingly then patted
Jones down and discovered a .38
caliber pistol in the front pocket of
Jones’s hooded sweatshirt. He re-
moved the pistol and continued the
pat down, finding a 9 mm pistol in
the waistband of Jones’s pants. It
was later determined that the sec-
ond gun was reported stolen in Indi-
ana. Detective Mattingly also found
a bag of marijuana in Jones’s right
front pants pocket, and Detective
McKinney found a bag of marijuana
in the passenger compartment of the
Nissan.
As Detective Mattingly applied
handcuffs to Jones, Jones asked him
to go easy, because he had been shot
in the chest a couple of weeks ear-
© 2009 Thomson Reuters
lier. Later examination revealed a
number of staples securing a wound
on Jones’s chest and abdomen.
At trial, Jones asked the court to
suppress the evidence against him,
arguing that that the officers had no
reasonable suspicion to support the
stop. The court ruled in his favor.
The government appealed.
DECISION: Reversed.
The officers had reasonable sus-
picion for the stop.
Detective Mattingly had almost
seven years’ experience in law en-
forcement with the Louisville Metro
Police Department, most of it de-
voted to drug-related crime inves-
tigations. Based on this experience,
Detective Mattingly recognized the
evidence of flagging (i.e., drug traf-
ficking) when he observed the Nis-
san and the conduct of its occupants
as he patrolled in a known drug-
trafficking neighborhood. These ob-
servations, Detective Mattingly be-
lieved, justified further inquiry.
The fact that the Nissan’s occu-
pants were not actually engaged in
flagging did not negate the fact that
their conduct was consistent with
flagging. Nor did it undermine the
reasonableness of Detective Mat-
tingly’s deduction that flagging could
be occurring. Detective Mattingly’s
observation and deduction, though
perhaps not sufficient in themselves
to establish reasonable suspicion,
certainly represented a relevant part
of the totality of the circumstances.
The totality of relevant circum-
stances included the fact that Mat-
tingly had substantial experience in
law enforcement, much of it spent
investigating drug-related crimes; he
was patrolling in a known drug-traf-
ficking area when he observed con-
duct undisputedly consistent with
flagging; when Mattingly confronted
the occupants of the Nissan, Jones
reacted in a nervous and frightened
manner, in apparent defiance of the
June 2009 | Volume 8 | No. 6
Massachusetts police
accused of prying into
celebrity records
According to a yearlong review by
State Auditor A. Joseph DeNucci, po-
lice all over Massachusetts have used
the Criminal Offender Record Infor-
mation system to look at the data of
famous local personalities. For exam-
ple, New England Patriots quarterback
Tom Brady was looked up 968 times
for no official reason.
Source: The Boston Globe
Pennsylvania officer caught
on YouTube video returns
to work
After a 10-day unpaid suspension,
Erie, Pennsylvania, Police Officer
James Cousins II is returning to work
after being caught making inappro-
priate comments in a video posted on
YouTube. In the video, Officer Cousins
is seen intoxicated in a bar joking for
eight minutes about a man’s shoot-
ing death and the reaction of the
dead man’s mother. Officer Cousins
has apologized and said most of the
things he said in the rant were not
true. Instead of returning to regular
patrols, Officer Cousins will be on desk
duty handling administrative projects.
Police Chief Steve Franklin says Officer
Cousins will remain on desk duty un-
til he completes psychological testing
and a fitness for duty evaluation.
Source: The Associated Press
Man sues police for right
to wear skirt in public
Jeremy Kerr has sued the New Or-
leans Police Department, claiming he
was harassed by a police officer who
threatened to arrest him for wearing
a black pinstriped skirt to municipal
court. Kerr is asking for $1 in dam-
ages, a ruling that his rights were
violated, and an order against barring
access to public facilities because of
gender stereotyping. The police de-
partment hasn’t been served with the
lawsuit and hasn’t answered the claim
in court. Kerr filed the lawsuit last
5
June 2009 | Volume 8 | No. 6
month, stating he finds skirts more
comfortable than pants.
Source: The Associated Press
Tulsa police plan to track
weapons with bar codes
Police in Tulsa, Oklahoma, are plan-
ning on using a new bar code com-
puter system to track the department’s
guns and ammunition. A recent audit
showed that 44 guns and an unknown
amount of ammunition had gone miss-
ing over the past 30 years. The audit
catalogued about 5,300 firearms pass-
ing through the department, and was
in response to the theft of 19 firearms
by a range instructor. The other 25
guns, including two assault rifles, have
never been recovered.
Source: The Associated Press
FBI and police review
YouTube videos of recent
Kent State riot
The FBI and Ohio police are review-
ing YouTube videos of a riot near Kent
State University last month to deter-
mine if police used excessive force in
breaking up a crowd of hundreds of
students at an annual off-campus block
party. About 50 students and guests
were arrested, mostly for underage
drinking and failure to disperse. The
FBI received one complaint of abuse,
but it has not opened an official inves-
tigation. While students claimed there
was no violence, officers on the scene
said students and guests threw rocks
and bottles and torched picnic tables,
couches, and doors. Ultimately, the po-
lice used tear gas and rubber bullets to
break up the crowd.
Source: The Cleveland Plain Dealer
Bad economy causes flood
of police applications in
North Carolina
Police departments in Raleigh and
Durham, North Carolina, have received
many more applications for police jobs
than they received in 2008. Raleigh
received more than 1,000 applications
6 © 2009 Thomson Reuters
officers; and that, as Jones jumped
out of the car as though to run,
he was seen to have a bulge in the
front of his sweatshirt which he was
holding in a weird way. These cir-
cumstances, viewed together, not in-
dividually, comprise a particularized
and objective basis for suspecting
wrongdoing.
Ultimately, there was reasonable
suspicion to support the stop.
See also: U.S. v. Perez, 440 F.3d
363, 2006 FED App. 0093P (6th
Cir. 2006).
See also: U.S. v. Orsolini, 300 F.3d
724, 2002 FED App. 0280P (6th
Cir. 2002).
Editor’s Note: In making its
decision, the court found that
Jones was not seized when the
officers hemmed in the Nis-
san because he had not yet
stopped and acquiesced to their
authority.
Traffic Stop
Suspect flees scene of
search warrant
Citation: U.S. v. Harris, 2009 WL
1065970 (5th Cir. 2009)
The Fifth Circuit has jurisdiction
over Louisiana, Mississippi, and
Texas.
A confidential police informant
purchased crack cocaine from Har-
ris on two occasions. Based on
these transactions, Officer Gonza-
lez obtained a search warrant that
authorized the search of Harris’s
house and Harris’s auto detail shop
for drugs and items related to illegal
drug activity.
Officers Rhyne and Gayle were
on the search team in charge of ex-
ecuting the warrant. A surveillance
Investigative Stops Law Bulletin
team led by Officer Gonzalez in-
formed them that Harris was at his
auto detail shop. As Officers Rhyne
and Gayle drove towards the shop
in an unmarked vehicle, they were
notified that Harris had apparently
realized that he was being watched
and was leaving the shop.
Officers Rhyne and Gayle spot-
ted Harris as he was driving away
in a pick-up truck and followed
him. They observed Harris driving
erratically at excessive speeds and
running several stop signs. They
then activated their vehicle’s front
lights and held their badges out the
windows while yelling for Harris to
stop, but Harris did not immediately
comply.
Eventually, Harris turned into a
private driveway and stopped his
truck. Officers Rhyne and Gayle or-
dered him out of the truck and ar-
rested him.
Harris was convicted of drugs
and weapons violations.
Harris appealed, arguing the offi-
cers had other motivations for mak-
ing the stop, and those motivations
made the stop unlawful.
DECISION: Affirmed.
The stop was lawful.
It was well established that so
long as a traffic law infraction that
would have objectively justified the
stop had taken place, the fact that
the police officer could have made
the stop for a reason other than the
occurrence of the traffic infraction
was irrelevant for purposes of the
Fourth Amendment.
In addition, while Harris further
claimed that the traffic violations oc-
curred after the officers attempted to
stop him and were caused by the of-
ficers’ conduct in chasing his truck,
the Officer Rhyne testified that he
and Officer Gayle observed Harris
driving well over the speed limit and
running several stop signs before at-
tempting to stop his truck. Ultimate-
Investigative Stops Law Bulletin
ly, the stop of Harris’s truck, even if
the officers had another motive for
it, was justified by Harris’s numer-
ous traffic violations.
Finally, warrantless arrests for
traffic offenses, such as driving with
a suspended license, were permit-
ted when the officers have prob-
able cause to believe that a crime
has been committed in their pres-
ence. In light of the serious traffic
violations observed by the officers,
the detention and arrest of Harris
were reasonable under the Fourth
Amendment.
See also: U.S. v. Lopez-Moreno, 420
F.3d 420 (5th Cir. 2005).
See also: U.S. v. Chavez, 281 F.3d
479 (5th Cir. 2002).
Editor’s Note: In making its de-
cision, the court also noted that
the arrest was reasonably related
in scope to the circumstances of
the stop.
Investigative
Stops Law Quiz
Answers appear in italics below
corresponding questions
1. Officer Huckaby was dis-
patched to a crime scene in response
to a third-party complaint that a
Hispanic male, dressed in a white
t-shirt and hat, had shot at a green
Volkswagen Jetta, and then left the
scene on foot. Officer Huckaby ar-
rived at the scene-an area renowned
for a “large amount of crime”-
within two minutes of his dispatch.
Upon arrival, he observed several
people dressed in gang attire with
shaved heads climb into a minivan.
Officer Huckaby saw no other activ-
ity and no one else leaving the area,
and he noticed that one of the mini-
van’s passengers looked like some-
© 2009 Thomson Reuters
one he knew that had outstanding
felony warrants. He also recognized
another passenger as a known gang
member. Upon seeing Officer Huck-
aby’s marked police vehicle, “all
occupants of the minivan reacted
with the ‘oh crap look,’ resembling
‘somebody that’s got something to
hide.’” The officer stopped the van,
and discovered an illegal firearm.
Was there reasonable suspicion for
the stop?
STOP: Lawful.
Yes. Taking into account the facts
known to Officer Huckaby, the to-
tality of the circumstances in the
instant case gave rise to reasonable
suspicion sufficient to constitution-
ally justify an investigatory stop.
Even though each of these factors
alone was susceptible to innocent
explanation, and some factors were
more probative than others, taken
together, they still created a particu-
larized and objective basis for stop-
ping the vehicle, making the stop
reasonable within the meaning of
the Fourth Amendment.
Citation: U.S. v. Crespin, 2009 WL
1069167 (10th Cir. 2009)
In Brief
New Jersey
Probable Cause
At approximately 1:00 a.m., Of-
ficers Ruocco and Sullivan received
a call from dispatch conveying a
report of a male with a shotgun at
199 Bidwell Avenue. The officers
drove to the location, where Of-
ficer Ruocco observed two or three
black males standing on the corner.
After leaving the patrol car, Officer
Ruocco was approached by a young
black woman, who pointed to Basil
and stated, in essence, “that that guy
June 2009 | Volume 8 | No. 6
for 52 positions, which was twice the
number of applications received last
year. Durham averages about 170 ap-
plications per year, but it already has
had 188 people test for 14 vacancies
this year. The Raleigh Police Depart-
ment stated it may stop taking appli-
cations because of the surge.
Source: The Associated Press
Houston police seek new
system to cut down on
false burglar alarms
In Houston, police respond to
nearly 300 burglar and panic alarms
per day, and nearly 95% of them turn
out to be false. Each alarm takes two
officers nearly an hour to deal with.
While there are already heavy fines
for homeowners whose alarms go off
repeatedly, the company in charge of
collecting the fines often fails to do
so. Consequently, the city is looking
to hire a more aggressive contractor
to put alarm permits online. It is also
planning on running a training class
for people whose alarms go off for
no reason. The Houston City Council
is currently voting on the suggested
changes.
Source: KHOU.com
DNA match may connect
suspect to dozens of
murders
Los Angeles police arrested John
Thomas, 72, an insurance claims ad-
juster, on suspicion that he may be
connected to around 30 murders in
and around the city. Some of the cases
go back decades. Thomas was ar-
rested after his DNA matched samples
from five rapes and slayings of elderly
women. The police department be-
lieves that Thomas could be one of
the most lethal killers in Los Angeles
history. Thomas was convicted of bur-
glary and attempted rape in 1957,
and convicted of rape in 1978. A 2004
California law calls for officials to col-
lect DNA samples from convicted sex
offenders. While working through the
backlog, officials swabbed Thomas’s
cheek for DNA and connected him to
the five slayings.
Source: The Wall Street Journal
7
Investigative Stops Law Bulletin
pointed a shotgun at me and told us
to get off the corner.” The woman
stated additionally that Basil had
thrown the gun underneath a black
Cadillac, where it was later recov-
ered by another police officer. The
woman refused to give her name or
a statement, claiming that she lived
in the area and “didn’t want [any]
further police action.” Following
the woman’s report, other officers
stopped Basil, who asked what was
going on. The officers then trans-
ported Basil to a police station lo-
cated three to four blocks away.
Basil was eventually convicted of
unlawful possession of a weapon.
STOP: Unlawful.
The anonymous tipster’s infor-
mation regarding a previously-oc-
curring event, unwitnessed by the
police, lacked reliability. Although
the presence of a gun at the location
specified by the tipster was corrobo-
rated, there was absolutely nothing
that corroborated the identification
of Basil as the person who previous-
ly wielded that gun. Nor was there
any reason to believe that the tip-
ster, who refused to identify herself
or give a statement, was speaking
the truth. For all that was known,
the identification could have been
made as a means for exacting re-
venge upon or otherwise harassing
a seemingly innocent person. Such
a bare-boned tip was simply insuffi-
cient to establish probable cause for
the stop.
Citation: State v. Basil, 2009 WL
1174777 (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div.
2009)
Editorial Questions or Comments: west.quinlan@thomsonreuters.com
8 © 2009 Thomson Reuters
Wisconsin
Traffic Stop
Officers Dummer and Spaulding
were on patrol as part of the Com-
munity Oriented Policing Unit, a
unit that dealt with street-level drug
offenders. Both officers had at least
five years’ experience with the de-
partment. At approximately 6:20
p.m., the officers noticed a vehicle
being operated with defective brake
lamps. The officers initiated a traf-
fic stop, and the driver, Bridges,
promptly complied by stopping his
vehicle. The traffic stop occurred
in “not such a good area” of town
where the police had received nu-
merous complaints of gunshots
fired at night. The area, across the
street from a bar, was typically de-
serted at night. There was artificial
lighting, but the area was nonethe-
less not well-lit. Due to the loca-
tion, and the fact that Bridges had
a passenger, the officers called for
back-up. After Bridges pulled over
to the curb, Officer Dummer saw
Bridges lean “back and over, over
the console of the vehicle and he
was reaching toward his left side
of his body.” To Officer Dummer,
it looked like Bridges was reaching
toward his left pocket. Officer Dum-
mer viewed Bridges’s movement to-
ward his front left side as consistent
with, among other things, obtaining
or concealing a dangerous weapon.
Given the location and the fact that
back-up had not yet arrived, Officer
Dummer had Bridges step outside of
his vehicle. Officer Dummer hand-
cuffed Bridges, assuring him that the
handcuffs were for safety purposes,
and not because he was under ar-
June 2009 | Volume 8 | No. 6
rest. Officer Dummer then informed
Bridges that he wanted to perform a
pat-down to feel for any dangerous
weapons. Before beginning the pat-
down search, Officer Dummer asked
Bridges whether he had anything on
his person that could cause injury or
any other illegal item; Bridges said
that he did not. During the search,
Officer Dummer found cocaine and
over two hundred dollars.
SEARCH: Lawful.
The protective search of Bridges
during the investigatory stop was
based on an objectively reasonable
suspicion that Bridges had access
to a weapon and presented a threat
to the officers’ safety in light of the
totality of circumstances. Here, the
stop occurred in an area that was
“not... good,” was poorly lit and
deserted at night, and was known
for frequent gunfire. The requested
backup had not arrived, and the ini-
tial reason that Bridges was stopped
had not been resolved before the
protective search took place. Both
officers witnessed Bridges make a
movement consistent with obtaining
or concealing a weapon. These offi-
cers, each with over five years’ expe-
rience in law enforcement, believed
that Bridges may have been armed.
Importantly, Bridges was reaching
toward his left front side, where a
license or wallet was not usually
kept, and Officer Dummer had ex-
perience with “a lot of people” who
concealed weapons under their left
leg close to the car door.
Citation: State v. Bridges, 2009 WL
1139490 (Wis. Ct. App. 2009)