SC: Nervousness during a stop is normal; excessive nervousness is RS

Defendants were in a car parked behind a church at night, and the officer thought it might be a couple “necking” [a 50-60’s word that dates the judge]. Instead, he found four men that matched the description of people involved in a robbery on a BOLO. He called for backup. When they got out of the car they were excessively nervous. Because of the BOLO and nervousness, a frisk of the car for weapons was reasonable. Robinson v. State, 2014 S.C. LEXIS 53 (February 26, 2014).

“Despite the court’s lack of confidence in Officer Bovy’s estimate [of defendant driving 50-55 in a 30], the court finds that Officer Bovy still had an objectively reasonable belief that Defendant was speeding.” Therefore, the stop was justified. “The court finds that Defendant’s unduly nervous demeanor combined with the high crime area in which the stop occurred and Defendant’s inconsistent answers provided Officer Bovy with reasonable suspicion to expand the scope of the stop. Accordingly, the stop was not unduly prolonged.” United States v. Gaffney, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 25081 (N.D. Iowa February 27, 2014).*