Defendant was arrested at his house after police entered. They saw him at the top of the stairs and ordered him to come down the stairs, which he did. Officers then went upstairs and searched. The upstairs could not be searched incident to his arrest because he left the area, and no justification was shown for a need for a protective sweep of the upstairs (which one deputy admitted in his testimony). State v. McGrane, 733 N.W.2d 671 (Iowa Sup. 2007).<\/p>\n
Defendant was being watched by the police and had traveled from California to Arkansas and was believed to be collecting drug debts. They had reasonable suspicion for his stop based on several factors about money movements, and the incriminating nature of a wad of money ($11k) in his pocket was immediately apparent. United States v. Collins, 2007 U.S. App. LEXIS 14134 (8th Cir. June 14, 2007)* (unpublished).<\/p>\n
Stop did not occur when officers got out of their police car to talk to the defendant. Over the course of the brief discussion, however, they reasonably suspected that he might have a gun on him, and he was patted down. The frisk constituted a seizure, but it was reasonable. While carrying a concealed weapon is not a crime in Massachusetts, various factors may indicate a crime in the making. “Here the Officers relied on additional factors to form their reasonable suspicion that the defendant was carrying an illegal gun. The defendant was in a high crime area shortly after midnight and walking with a ‘straight arm’ gait. Most persuasively, the defendant continually attempted to hide his pocket from the officers’ view. When a person attempts to conceal something from the police, that concealment can contribute to the reasonable suspicion necessary to support a stop.” Commonwealth v. Depeiza, 449 Mass. 367, 868 N.E.2d 90 (2007).* (Comment:<\/em> Apparently “acting funny” in a high crime area is reasonable suspicion in Massachusetts, which is overrationalization to get out from under the fact that a mere concealed weapon is not a crime; it is the potential intent to use it, e.g.,<\/em> being seen loading one in a high crime area at 2 a.m. as stated in one of the cases relied upon by the court.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" b2evALnk.b2WPAutP Continue reading