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Illegal Investigatory Stop: Effect of Suspect's Voluntary Admission - When Does Good Faith Defense Apply?

NCJ Number
149770
Journal
Crime to Court Police Officer's Handbook Dated: (July 1994) Pages: complete issue
Author(s)
J C Coleman
Date Published
1994
Length
21 pages
Annotation
This booklet provides the appellate court decision and legal commentary on United States v. O'Neal (1994), which involved legal issues pursuant to the seizure of a suspect's luggage; information is also provided on the symptoms of a grand mal epileptic seizure.
Abstract
The relevant facts of the case are that O'Neal and his brother arrived in Minneapolis on a bus from Chicago. Police officers watching the bus depot for possible drug couriers approached the men and questioned them. During the interrogation, one of the officers seized O'Neal's carry-on bag to submit it to a canine sniff test. As that officer left with the bag, another officer asked O'Neal whether the bag contained drugs; O'Neal admitted that it did. After the dog alerted to the bag, O'Neal was arrested, read his Miranda rights, and taken to the police station. The police obtained a search warrant for the bag, and upon execution of the warrant found the cocaine. Under the court's decision, an investigatory stop of a citizen may not be based solely on a "drug profile." Other facts to support reasonable suspicion that a crime has been committed must also be present. Without at least a reasonable suspicion, an officer may not forcibly detain a person or seize his/her luggage. A magistrate can find probable cause for the issuance of a valid warrant even after an illegal investigatory stop, if there are sufficient facts not based upon information acquired as a result of the illegal seizure. The voluntary statement from the suspect that his luggage contained drugs was a valid basis for the issuance of the search warrant. There are cases in which a seizure or search pursuant to an invalid warrant may be held to be lawful. A test on the information is provided.