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A Traffic Stop Based on an Anonymous Informant's Tip Must Be Reliable to be a Legal Stop

By Walin & Klarich

Why You Need a Criminal Defense Attorney Who Knows Search and Seizure Laws In order to conduct a legal traffic stop, an officer must have what is called ?reasonable suspicion? to stop the car. Often, officers will rely on a tip they received from someone who may know the suspect, one who may have seen the suspect engage in an illegal activity, or a person with a hunch to create the requisite reasonable suspicion. A person who tips officers to suspected criminal conduct is called an ?informant.? In order to use an informant to build reasonable suspicion, the officer must consider the reliability of the information. In United States v. Leos-Quijada, 107 F.3d 786 (10th Cir. 1997), the court stated that when information comes from an informant, reliability may be assessed by viewing the credibility of the informant, the basis of the informant's knowledge, and the extent to which the police are able to independently verify the tip...continue to full post

Full post as published by Southern California Criminal Defense Blog on September 05, 2009 (boomark / email).