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Misdescription of vehicle to radio call and other factors was a lack of reasonable suspicion

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Officer lacked reasonable suspicion for stop of defendant's vehicle at 4 a.m. in Atlantic City, where driving at that hour is not abnormal. The vehicle did accurately match the description. United States v. Brown, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 87119 (D. N.J. October 27, 2008): Ultimately, the Court is essentially left with a loosely fitting match of the vehicles, a head turn by the driver that lasted a "couple of seconds", and a hand-off of some indescript object by the driver to the passenger in the rear seat. Despite giving the officers' experience and specialized knowledge the deference it deserves, the factors present in this case do not amount to the level required for reasonable suspicion. Defendant's mother who was given his computer bag to use the computer could consent to its search by a law enforcement officer whi was looking for a gun possessed by the defendant...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on October 31, 2008 (boomark / email).