NCJ Number
173103
Journal
Crime to Court Volume: lice Officer's Handbook (January 1998) Issue: Dated: Pages: 1-17
Date Published
1998
Length
17 pages
Annotation
This legal analysis of a case related to the investigatory stop and reasonable suspicion involved police officers in Charleston, South Carolina, who stopped a motor vehicle because they suspected criminal activity; the stop resulted in the indictment of a vehicle occupant.
Abstract
Two police officers escorted a misbehaving juvenile to his house and noticed the juvenile's stepbrother sitting in a parked car across the street in a neighborhood known by the police for considerable drug trafficking. The police officers made an investigatory stop of the vehicle after another person got into the passenger side of the car. The suspect on the passenger side ran from the scene and later pulled a handgun from his pants and fired a shot toward one of the police officers. The suspect was persuaded to drop his gun and was arrested. He was later indicted for possessing a firearm after conviction for a felony, but he moved to suppress evidence of the gun on the grounds it was the result of an unlawful stop. The district judge granted the suppression motion and dismissed the indictment, concluding that the police officers did not have a reasonable suspicion to justify the stop. Analysis of the case indicates suspicious activity occurred during the course of the incident but does not reveal strong evidence of criminal activity. Case details related to the high-crime area, prior criminal record of the suspect, and evasive conduct by the suspect are discussed in the context of reasonable suspicion.