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Mere possession of a handrolled cigarette not PC

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Mere possession of a handrolled cigarette does not give probable cause to believe that the defendant is in possession of marijuana. The state's justification of alleged intoxication was too nebulous to support probable cause. Buhrman v. Commonwealth, 2008 Va. LEXIS 43 (April 18, 2008).* Merely being a passenger in a car does not justify a patdown. The justification here was contact with the passenger on a prior occasion, but nothing about this stop gave reasonable suspicion as to the passenger. McCain v. Commonwealth, 2008 Va. LEXIS 55 (April 18, 2008).* Merely being a passenger in a stolen car does not justify a Terry frisk. The officer still has to give an articulable basis for a frisk, such as an indication that the passenger knew he was in a stolen car...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on April 21, 2008 (boomark / email).