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Gun suppressed for lack of reasonable suspicion despite match in clothing and race between fleeing suspect and man stopped nearby

By Candace Hom, Melinda Ghilardi, Nancy Rimmer, Sarah Gannett, Renee Pietropaolo and Tieffa Harper

In United States v.Bey, No. 17-2945 (Dec. 21, 2018), the Court reverses the denial of a motion to suppress, holding that while officers acted within the authority conferred by Terry v. Ohio in initially ordering the defendant to stop, his continued detention became unreasonable once officers ?had a good look at his face and features,? which differed significantly from the description of the suspect under pursuit.The episode began when police stopped a vehicle occupied by three black men for not coming to a complete stop at a stop sign. In seeking to ascertain each man?s identity, police noticed evidence of marijuana possession and decided to remove the occupants from the vehicle. Shortly thereafter, a gun was spotted near where one man had been seated, and that man took flight...continue to full post

Full post as published by Third Circuit Blog on December 23, 2018 (boomark / email).