DC: PC to arrest isn’t necessarily PC to search; Terry stop evolved into PC

Probable cause to arrest is not necessarily probable cause to search. Defendant’s initial detention under Terry was justified and evolved into probable cause. “Mr. Ellison also argues that his pre-arrest detention was longer than permitted under Terry’s rationale permitting brief investigatory stops. Mr. Ellison complains that he was detained under Terry for more than ten minutes, without adequate justification. But for reasons set forth above, the duration of his Terry detention is not the ten-plus minutes between his initial seizure and formal arrest, but just the three minutes that elapsed between his seizure and the accrual of probable cause to arrest. At that point in time, the officers had adequate justification for the more prolonged detention attendant to an arrest. And as explained below, that three-minute-long, pre-probable-cause detention was reasonable under the circumstances and justified by Terry’s rationale.” Ellison v. United States, 2020 D.C. App. LEXIS 391 (Oct. 1, 2020).