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OH2: Detaining a possible witness to a man screaming after a 911 call was reasonable

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Police responded to a domestic violence call to a payphone and found a screaming man accompanied by defendant. As the officer approached, defendant tried to leave, but he was grabbed by the officer. Detaining a potential witness was reasonable. State v. Topps, 2008 Ohio 4021, 2008 Ohio App. LEXIS 3400 (2d Dist. August 8, 2008): [*P30] We conclude that these standards for a constitutionally reasonable stop of a potential witness to a crime are both practical and sensible. We also find that the stop of Topps meets all three requirements. With regard to the first prong, police were recently dispatched to the area around where Topps was arrested in order to investigate a possible violent crime or accident. That fact, combined with a man screaming in public could reasonably have made police believe that a misdemeanor or felony involving danger or forcible injury was occurring or had just occurred...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on August 11, 2008 (boomark / email).