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W.D.Okla.: Court finds officers not credible on presence of a knife so frisk unjustified

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Defendant’s pickup truck was stopped for a traffic violation late at night and there was an alleged furtive movement in the truck as the officers approached, also allegedly seeing a hunting knife in plain view, which the court finds not credible. United States v. Miller, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 68613 (W.D. Okla. July 9, 2010)*: Based upon the totality of circumstances, and in particular the questionable credibility of Officer Barnes and Sergeant Bowden, the Court finds that the factors present here do not constitute reasonable suspicion. Specifically, the factors which weigh in favor of reasonable suspicion are of minimal significance and susceptible to varying interpretations so as to be innocuous. Because "the question is whether this suspicion was reasonable and articulable rather than a hunch that turned out accurate," the Court finds that the officer and sergeant's "inchoate and unparticularized suspicions or hunches were insufficient to give rise to reasonable suspicion" that defendant was armed and dangerous...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on July 13, 2010 (boomark / email).