LA5: Chambering a round while driving without hands is RS of something

Defendant gave a false name during his unlawful arrest, but the seizure of shotgun shells and a crack pipe from his person was valid by independent source. Jackson v. State, 1 So. 3d 273 (Fla. App. 1st DCA 2009).*

Defendant’s “observing our presence in a nervous fashion,” watching officers conducting a traffic stop, was not cause for an investigative detention. He also fled when they looked back at him. State v. Alvarez, 2009 La. App. LEXIS 57 (5th Cir. January 13, 2009).*

Chambering a round into a gun while driving with no hands on the wheel is reasonable suspicion for a stop. [One has to agree that this is mildly suspicious activity.] State v. Anderson, 2009 La. App. LEXIS 64 (5th Cir. January 13, 2009):

In the present case, Detective Peterson, a law enforcement officer with approximately 10 years experience, observed the defendant chambering a round into a firearm while driving with no hands on the wheel. Detective Peterson testified that, although he did not witness the defendant committing a specific crime, he stopped the defendant to investigate because “[he] did not know if a crime had been committed or was about to be committed.”

We cannot say that the trial court erred in finding that Detective Peterson had sufficient reasonable suspicion that a crime was being committed, had been committed, or was about to be committed to justify an investigatory stop. Detective Peterson did not have to observe what he knew to be criminal behavior before investigating but rather behavior he reasonably suspected may become criminal activity.

Extracting defendant’s blood after an accident complied with Schmerber and state law. While some factors under state law were not met, the state supreme court has cautioned that exclusion is not required if the extraction is otherwise reasonable. State v. Bowman, 327 S.W.3d 69 (Tenn. Crim. App. 2009), 130 S. Ct. 559, 175 L. Ed. 2d 388 (U.S. Nov. 9, 2009).*