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CA3: Mistaken stop not unconstitutional when defendant provides false ID

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Officers were looking for a parole violator, and they had information from a CI that he was driving a particular car. That information proved to be wrong, but the person stopped gave a false ID when he was stopped. The stop would not be suppressed because, although mistaken, it was not unconstitutional [not to mention the independent crime of providing the false ID]. United States v. Jaison, 2008 U.S. App. LEXIS 15558 (3d Cir. July 22, 2008) (unpublished): "When the police have probable cause to arrest one party, and when they reasonably mistake a second party for the first party, then the arrest of the second party is a valid arrest." Hill v. California, 401 U.S. 797, 802 (1971). The reasonableness of the mistaken arrest of another party is "determined by considering the totality of the circumstances surrounding the arrest...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on July 25, 2008 (boomark / email).