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MA: "Fidgeting" can be furtive movement for RS

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

The trial court’s finding of furtive movement supporting reasonable suspicion was not clearly erroneous. Commonwealth v. Rivera, 2010 Mass. App. LEXIS 201 (February 23, 2010)*: The defendant quarrels only with the judge's determination that his gestures were furtive, asserting that these movements were mere "fidgeting." "The phrase 'furtive gesture' appears in many decisions where the issue is whether a patfrisk or a search of a vehicle is justified. The gestures are interpreted by the police (and by the courts) as demonstrating the hiding of contraband or as threatening the officers' safety." Defense counsel was not ineffective for not filing a motion to suppress that could never be granted because a private search occurred. Moss v...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on February 26, 2010 (boomark / email).