Sat Mar 23, 2024 11:33 pm by globalturbo
.There are three legal terms every American should know prior to encountering peace-officers.
These terms are, Bare Suspicion, Reasonable Suspicion, and Probable Cause.
There are also two questions every American should know prior to encountering peace-officers.
These questions are, “Am I being detained?” & “Am I free to go?”
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Bare Suspicion
The apprehension or imagination of the existence of something wrong based only on inconclusive or slight evidence, or possibly even no evidence.
Black’s Law Dictionary 9TH Edition
Review
- The peace-officers have absolutely no jurisdiction to stop, detain, or question!
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Reasonable Suspicion
A particularized and objective basis, supported by specific and articulable facts, for suspecting a person of criminal activity. • A police officer must have a reasonable suspicion to stop a person in a public place.
Black’s Law Dictionary 9TH Edition
A police officer’s brief detention, questioning, and search of a person for a concealed weapon when the officer reasonably suspects that the person has committed or is about to commit a crime. • The stop and frisk, which can be conducted without a warrant or probable cause, was held constitutional by the Supreme Court in Terry v. Ohio.
Terry v. Ohio 392 U.S. 1, 88 S.Ct. 1868 (1968)
In Terry v. Ohio the United States Supreme Court held that the Fourth Amendment prohibition on unreasonable searches and seizures is not violated when a police officer stops a suspect on the street and performs a quick surface search without probable cause to arrest, if the police officer has a reasonable suspicion that the person has committed, is committing, or is about to commit a crime and has a reasonable belief that the person “may be armed and presently dangerous.”
For their own protection, police may perform a quick surface search of the person’s outer clothing for dangerous weapons if they have reasonable suspicion that the person stopped is armed. This reasonable suspicion must be based on “specific and articulable facts” and not merely upon an officer’s hunch. This permitted police action has subsequently been referred to in short as a “stop and frisk,” or simply a “Terry Stop.”
Review
- Reasonable Suspicion amounts to more than bare suspicion, but slightly less than probable cause.
- Pursuant to Terry v. Ohio an officer may only perform a quick surface search of the person for dangerous weapons, but may not search for contraband.
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Probable Cause
Criminal law. A reasonable ground to suspect that a person has committed or is committing a crime or that a place contains specific items connected with a crime. • Under the Fourth Amendment, probable cause – which amounts to more than a bare suspicion but less than evidence that would justify a conviction must be shown before an arrest warrant or search warrant may be issued.
Black’s Law Dictionary 9TH Edition
In Beck v. Ohio the Unted States Supreme Court held thatprobable cause may not be established simply by showing that the officer who made the challenged arrest or search subjectively believed he had grounds for his action.
“We may assume that the officers acted in good faith in arresting the petitioner. But ‘good faith on the part of the arresting officers is not enough.’ If subjective good faith alone were the test, the protections of the Fourth Amendment would evaporate, and the people would be ‘secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects,’ only in the discretion of the police.”
Beck v. Ohio 379 U.S. 89, 85 S.Ct. 223
Review
- Probable Cause amounts to more than a bare suspicion and reasonable suspicion, but less than evidence that would justify a conviction.
- Pursuant to Beck v. Ohio an officer’s subjective good faith alone does not establish probable cause.
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Researcher: Jacob E. Culliton
LeonesLawLLC.com
© Jacob E. Culliton, 2014
